Whoo-whoo-whoo! Accompanied by the whistle, a steam train scarred from nurous battles, known as the "Primordial Yang," spewed thick smoke into the sky while dragging along no less than thirty carriages and slowly ca to a stop inside Yang County Station.
When the train pulled into the station, one could clearly see that, apart from a few spacious carriages at the front that carried nobles, the remaining twenty-so carriages were all packed full of people standing and sitting.
From their clothing, one could tell the diversity of the passengers on the train: old n in patched cotton garnts with cloth stockings and shoes, small rchants in cotton robes, wealthy households in mink, male and female students in modern school uniforms, overseas students in suits, martial artists from worldly society... Most of them were ordinary folk in single layers of clothing.
As soon as the doors opened, everyone was eager to disembark, anxiously eyeing the wounded carriages. They then bowed and expressed their gratitude to the dozen or so cultivators flying through the sky, many of whom were moved to tears and began racing toward the safety of Yang County with their families in tow.
As the last carriage opened, those who disembarked were sowhat special passengers; each one emitted an unusual aura, indicating that they were all cultivators.
A middle-aged cultivator in a fiery red Daoist robe descended from the sky and said to these loose cultivators,
"Fellow cultivators, your assistance along the way is imnsely appreciated. On behalf of the Primordial Yang Sect, I express our deep gratitude. The world is undergoing great changes, and if any of you wishes to join our Sect as a Guest Elder, you may follow now to et our Sect Master."
This middle-aged Taoist, with his Foundation Establishnt Realm cultivation, surpassed all the loose cultivators present. At his call, the cultivators responded imdiately.
"This aligns perfectly with my intentions. With the current chaotic situation, if the Primordial Yang Sect is willing to take in, then shalessly I accept."
"The magnanimity of the Primordial Yang Sect is comndable. They're even willing to pay a steep price to ransom the commoners from the demons that occupy Giant Deer City. Just for this reason alone, it's worth joining them. I only hope that senior will not look down on my weak cultivation at the Energy-Introducing Realm."
"Alas, the demons have flooded into Southern Yue from several surrounding provinces, with most of the territory having fallen. Fortunately, the provincial city remains intact, and places like Yang County, Thunder City, Fire God City, and Qingya City, which are protected by major sects, are not disturbed by demons. The Human Clan still has a chance to breathe."
"But there's more. There are hero cultivators like Gu Zhichang and Zheng Wufu leading rebel armies, who have at least reclaid over a dozen cities and counties in the southeastern region. In addition, righteous Human Clan cultivators have stepped forward, like the mysterious sword cultivator who slaughtered the Fragrant at Collection and beheaded the giant troll baby demon at Iron Buddha Temple, giving the Human Clan great hope."
"I've heard of that sword cultivator as well. They say he's a fiend who has received so of the Secret Demon Sect's inheritance. However, his cultivation in the Qi Refining Realm alone can't do much. The giant troll baby demon whose head he severed didn't die; right after the sword cultivator left, the baby demon directly mutated into a ferocious infant demon and slaughtered all the remaining evil demon cultivators in Chenghuang Market."
"Good riddance. Nowadays, who doesn't know that Joyful Pavilion has sided with the Devil God Army? We righteous cultivators have long since stopped going to Joyful Pavilion."
"Disaster struck too suddenly. Now, with the news that the Ancestor God Forbidden Technique Longevity Barrier is ineffective spreading throughout the world, not only have all hidden demons appeared, but the number of humans mutated into demons and alien species is skyrocketing. It's rumored that the Sect Master of a small sect had a mishap in his cultivation, which directly caused the over a hundred disciples listening to his teachings to mutate and fall into demonhood overnight, slaughtering the town at the base of the mountain... Such dark and chaotic tis have truly arrived."
"Thanks for the kindness, senior, but I plan to leave Southern Yue to seek refuge elsewhere. I heard conditions are much better in other provinces."
"You're not wrong. Who knows what the court and Ji Xianxian are doing? And where is the Demon Suppression Army of several hundred thousand troops? I heard that once they form their array, they can instantly kill those at the Cavernous Mystery Realm, and even seriously injure cultivators of the Ultimate Happiness Realm. Why have they not moved to quell this chaos?"
...
Among these voices, so accepted the Primordial Yang Sect's invitation, while many loose cultivators did not.
Included was a young cultivator who obviously practiced the Heterodox Magic of the "Heavenly chanism Puppets Scripture," carrying and leading several puppets of strange design. After refusing the invitation, he entered the town called Yang County, which was still under expansion, without uttering a word.
Needless to say, this mysterious puppet cultivator covered in a black robe was none other than Tao Qian's disguise.
One of the big-headed doll puppets latched onto his back was Little Age.
Following closely by his side, the bronze puppet as tall as a man was Lian Jing'er in disguise.
Tao Qian took such precautions, naturally due to how his formidable achievents over the past two days had affected others.
Especially since he had recently beheaded a giant troll infant demon with a single sword strike, despite rely being a Qi Refining Realm cultivator, his reputation within Southern Yue was truly not small.
After all, the number of demons and evil cultivators that had died by his hand was excessively high, and among them were many with realms higher than his.
Of course, the "giant troll infant demon" did not count.
After all, it was a Transcend Mortality Realm demon, and simply chopping off its head couldn't kill it.
After being decapitated, the infant demon indeed did not die, but it mutated into a truly demonic creature—extrely violent, brutal, and devoid of all sense of self.
A demon infant larger than mountains!
It was bad enough that the Joyful Pavilion's big investnt, Chenghuang Market, was directly destroyed, but that day, the demons and evil cultivators there were devoured by the demon infant to the extent of fifty or sixty percent, resulting in heavy casualties.
It's said that those who went to see the aftermath found the land everywhere scattered with dismbered, haphazard corpses.
Fortunately, the demon infant couldn't wreak havoc for too long before it was quickly bound and captured by people sent by the Beautiful Corpse Bodhisattva and taken back to Iron Buddha Mountain.
This outco was, in fact, precisely Tao Qian's intention.
He had known all along that his sword strike couldn't kill the infant demon but it could be the final straw to force it to mutate and fall.
That fate was much worse than just dying—a Transcend Mortality demon with no hopeful future in cultivation, possibly returning to Iron Buddha Temple to have its skin peeled and bones disassembled, its entire existence and life turned into resources to empower other demons.
"It's a pity that there wasn't enough ti; I couldn't ensure I could extract the good stuff from that peculiar swaddle before the infant demon turned into a demon infant. The one thing I could take, the Māra Sandalwood Charming God Incense Burner, I dared not touch, wasting a great opportunity."
"However, the benefits I've acquired these past two days have been plenty enough; best not to be greedy."
As this thought occurred to him, Tao Qian couldn't help but recall the many gains he had made in the past two days:
A large variety of exotic treasures and cultivation resources from the Mustard Seed Talisman seed.
Experiences in combat and magical dueling that couldn't be acquired from books.
Advancing from the early stage to the middle stage of the Qi Refining Realm, acquiring new divine powers such as the "Sweet Rain Skill," "Auspicious Cloud Skill," and "Clear Wind Skill," among seven or eight others. The Spirit Treasure Immortal Spirit Qi within his body had increased from the initial ninety-nine streaks to one hundred and sixty-eight and later surged to as many as three hundred and sixty.
If one were to cultivate following the rules and regulations, acquiring these would surely take a significant amount of ti.
But Tao Qian had managed to shorten it to within two days.
Of course, all of this was thanks to the Heart Inquiry Three Calamities.
When Spirit Treasure Cultivators faced the Three Calamities, although there were life and death dangers, it also ca with many opportunities, and the speed of cultivation was incomparable to ordinary tis, thus confirming the saying that misfortune leans on fortune, and fortune on misfortune.
"Now, the first disaster is over."
"This ans that as long as I can get to the Spirit Treasure Mountain Gate, I, Tao Qian, will surely be admitted."
At this thought, Tao Qian couldn't help but reveal a smile on his face.
He then looked ahead quite relaxedly.
To his surprise, whether it was soone like him, a Cultivator of strange appearance, or those terrified commoners from other counties, everyone was easily accepted.
The local county residents did not reject these outsiders, not even a look of surprise or wonder; instead, there were welcoming gazes aplenty.
On his journey here, right up to the border of Southern Yue, Tao Qian had seen many terrifying and absurd sights.
Demons eating humans or the Earth Devil Country and the like were already common occurrences.
This bustling and prosperous scene was the real rarity.
He had taken the Primordial Yang train, so he had already learned the details during the train ride and knew that such scenes would beco increasingly common.
The Devil God Army might have made a ss of Southern Yue, but after all, it was one of the largest provinces in the southern region, with not a few cultivating forces, both big and small.
These sect forces had been waiting for the Tian Chao officials to act, but Ji Xianxian remained unmoved.
To protect their foundations, knowing also that the Ancestor God Forbidden Technique had lost its effect, these forces, big and small, had no reservations anymore and began to intervene in the worldly affairs.
Those cities and counties severely afflicted by demons had no choice but to seek protection from these cultivating sects at such life and death monts.
Yang County, a border county in Southern Yue, was also the bustling and large county that one must pass through to reach iling.
Primordial Yang Sect, a cultivating sect located here, although not among the Twelve Major Daoist Sects and nowhere near comparable to the Ten Thousand Infant Sect,
had several hundred Cultivators who practiced the legitimate Daoist skill from the Great Book "Primordial Yang True Fire Scripture." It was rumored that the founding Sect Master was a previous generation genius true practitioner from the Pure Yang Sect.
In recent days, the thirty thousand residents of Yang County, along with the county governnt, all agreed to hand over the control of Yang County to the Primordial Yang Sect.
It was because of this that the lively and bustling scene in front of him had unfolded.
However, Tao Qian's destination was not here, but rather outside of Yang County, a territory called iling Mountain that stretched magnificently and led straight through to two major provinces outside of Southern Yue Province.
That day, he had forced the little devil Star Zha to use Evasion Light, fleeing from Chenghuang Mountain with an extrely dashing posture.
But unfortunately, either that little devil had been bragging that its Escape Skill surpassed the "Great Freedom Heart Light Escape," or it was too weak to possess the ability to escape tens of thousands of miles in a thought, let alone to ignore the various demon arrays and forbidden techniques along the way.
Moreover, Tao Qian found out that it wasn't just demons who were creating obstacles; even the Southern Yue officials had set up formations in so critical areas to obstruct Escape Skills.
Tao Qian, rely a Qi Refining Realm cultivator, naturally had no capacity to create a big scene.
He had to obediently escape along the previously chosen route to this border area.
The only consoling part: after surviving the first calamity, Tao Qian could say he sailed with the wind, his cultivation increasing every mont, without encountering any danger.
"After leaving Yang County and following the ancient path up iling Mountain, I can directly enter Fumin Province, which I heard is also chaotic but in a better state than Southern Yue, where I should be able to pass through safely to reach the Penglai Sea."
"Those demons setting up demon arrays and forbidden techniques are sowhat understandable, but I don't know what Ji Xianxian is thinking, also restricting..."
While Tao Qian was contemplating, he took the two little ones and was about to cross the Main Street of Yang County to leave the city.
But at that mont, several voices that sounded very shrill to his ears reached him.
They ca from five or six insignificant Cultivators setting up wooden shacks and selling spirit pills and talismans to the residents.
While selling the charms at low prices, they spouted propaganda:
"Fellow townspeople, don't worry about those demons."
"We have co from the provincial city to tell you so shocking good news."
"Our Governor of Southern Yue, Mr. Ji has received an imperial edict from the court, granting him full control over Southern Yue Province, and he will send troops to suppress the rebellion from today onwards."
"The eight hundred thousand Demon Suppression Army will soon sweep clean and eliminate all the filthy demons and ghosts."
"Before that, Mr. Ji has sent us to various places to sell these remarkably effective spirit pills and talismans at the lowest prices, ensuring that all residents are free from the contamination of demonic Qi."
"Mr. Ji is the great savior of our Southern Yue."
"Long live Mr. Ji! Long live Mr. Ji! Long live Mr. Ji!"
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