Detecting Traces of Demon Cultivators

Just as Zi Menghan was riding the Immortal Phoenix towards Aquamarine Lakeside, Li Qingzhou also soared into the sky from his own courtyard on his flying sword as he quickly rushed in the same direction.

When Li Qingzhou saw Zi Menghan riding the Immortal Phoenix, he said, "Senior Sister, your visualization of this Immortal Phoenix has become more realistic. I wonder if it can go up against my sword?"

Zi Menghan raised her eyebrows as a fake smile appeared on her face. "Heh, it seems that Junior Brother has progressed as well. Why don't you give it a go and come at me?"

"Don't blame me for doing so, then!"

Li Qingzhou grinned and swung his right hand out as he clenched his fist. The Lifeless Sword appeared in his hand and he raised it to slash at Zi Menghan. A domineering sword intent that seemed to give no chance of survival to its victim swept out.

Zi Menghan shook her head lightly, and with a slight mental shift, the Immortal Phoenix beneath her feet opened its mouth and swallowed Li Qingzhou's boundless Lifeless Sword Intent into its stomach.

As it did so, large bumps appeared on its body, but then the Immortal Phoenix's bones and tendons bulged under its feathers as they forcefully pushed those large bumps back.

After a moment, the boundless Lifeless Sword Intent in the Immortal Phoenix's body disappeared and its eyes regained their intelligence.

A look of surprise flashed across Li Qingzhou's face as he embarrassedly said, "Senior Sister is indeed powerful. The blood, bones, tendons of this Immortal Phoenix's body are basically fully formed. Seems like my Lifeless Sword Intent really can't do anything to it!"

"Junior Brother, take my move too!"

Zi Menghan smiled slyly, waved her hand lightly and a flying needle pierced through the fabric of reality, instantly arriving before Li Qingzhou.

This was a flying needle that she had visualized to the very extreme of her abilities. It contained an endless killing intent and its power was exceptionally tyrannical.

Li Qingzhou's expression changed slightly as his Supreme Sword Bone in his chest sensed danger and automatically activated. It released a boundless sword light and forcefully intercepted the flying needle's attack with a sharp and ear-piercing sound.

Li Qingzhou retrieved the Supreme Sword Bone and bitterly smiled. "Senior Sister, I don't want to play anymore! Your cultivation has progressed too quickly!"

"You're exaggerating. I have only just broken through to a new realm," said Zi Menghan casually as they landed by the lake.

Zi Menghan and Li Qingzhou both bowed to Ye Chen who was already waiting for them at the lakeside, standing with his hands behind his back.

"Master!"

Ye Chen turned around and looked at his two disciples before him. He nodded slightly and said, "Both of you have improved a lot. I am quite pleased with your progress! However, this world is full of dangers. Today, I will teach you another secret art!"

"Thank you, Master!" Li Qingzhou was extremely happy.

He had personally experienced the potential of the secret arts Ye Chen had thought him. The Imminent Skyline step skill that his master had taught him last time was so good that he had almost killed himself trying to learn and get used to it. His body just wasn't good enough at the time to take it fully.

Plus, the Extreme Realm Sword Slash that he had learned from Ye Chen was indeed an unimaginable Sword Path skill. It instantly increased his battle power by ten times; it was way too horrifying!

Li Qingzhou had been very grateful to Ye Chen for teaching him the secret arts. As such, he was very excited to learn a new one.

But Zi Menghan simply shrugged nonchalantly and said, "Master, I do not have any divine energy in my body so I don't really need this."

"The secret art I'm going to teach you is called Divine Consciousness Hundred Refinements that refines your divine consciousness with the energy from your surroundings. Every time you complete a round of refinement, your divine consciousness will double in size. Are you still sure that you don't need this skill?"

When Zi Menghan and Li Qingzhou heard this, their eyes instantly brightened.

This was a godly skill!

Zi Menghan cultivated the Great Freedom Visualization Heart Scripture which highly relied on the potential of one's divine consciousness. As such, this new secret art that Ye Chen was proposing to teach them was extremely useful for her.

"Master, I'll learn it!" Zi Menghan excitedly responded.

She would be a fool if she didn't learn this godly skill.

And thus, Ye Chen proceeded to teach them the Divine Consciousness Hundred Refinements in detail and later checked their current battle strength.

Since Zi Menghan was already in the Ten Thousand Spirit Realm, she could already control many True Spirits of the Great Dao. Though she might not be too familiar with all of them, the True Spirits of the Great Dao that she could visualize now had were more realistic. Even experts in Primordial Realm might not be able to harm her.

Li Qingzhou, on the other hand, might not have increased his cultivation as much as Zi Menghan but he was still quite powerful. If he utilized his Supreme Sword Bone and Extreme Realm Sword Slash to their fullest potential as someone in the Mid Stage of Vision Realm, he could kill Primordial Realm experts!

But of course, they were nothing compared to Ye Chen.

Based on his calculations, Ye Chen was confident that he could hold his ground against a hundred Zi Menghan's and Li Qingzhou's.

'Alright, alright let's not get too ahead of ourselves.'

Ye Chen looked at the two disciples in front of him and thought for a moment before saying, "Both of you have improved a lot, which is a good thing. But, I have a feeling that Xuantian Holy Land will not be so peaceful anymore."

"Master, have you sensed something?" asked Zi Menghan with a bit of surprise. Li Qingzhou also looked at his master with curiosity.

But Ye Chen simply shook his head and said, "You are thinking too much. I just have a lot of puppets running around, so I have been able to learn some of the things people have been talking about.

"For example, when I attended the recent Disciple Acceptance Ceremony via my puppet, I heard the disciples from the other peaks talking about traces of demons appearing at the outer boundaries of Xuantian Holy Land after Qingzhou killed the Outer Realm Sky Demon.

"At first, it was just a small scattered group of demon cultivators, but now, it is getting more and more intense. Demon Lord Realm and Demon Emperor Realm experts have also been spotted to be backing these scattered groups of demon cultivators. However, I was not able to get any more detailed information."

It was obvious that Ye Chen's trip to the recent Disciple Acceptance Ceremony had been a waste of time in terms of recruiting a new Qi anomaly. However, it was fruitful in terms of the information he had been able to gather.

Zi Menghan and Li Qingzhou exchanged glances solemnly.

Ye Chen had once told them about the Demonic Abyss Crack that connected their world and the Demon World. Both sides had been battling each other since the beginning of time and neither would rest until one of them had been exterminated.

Now that Ye Chen had told them about the growing numbers of demon cultivators just outside Xuantian Holy Land, Zi Menghan and Li Qingzhou knew that they could never let down their guard.

"Master, are those demon cultivators the remnants of Blood Demon Cult? Could it be that they are here for the Demonic Abyss Crack?" asked Li Qingzhou.

Since Blood Demon Cult was the main culprit behind the massacre of Qingyun Peak, the two disciples suspected that this time wouldn't be any different.

"Well, it is possible," said Ye Chen.

"I heard that a few Peak Lords had gone over to investigate the situation, but they only saw some low-level demon cultivators. Still, the Peak Lords have started to train their disciples more intensely as they monitor the demon cultivators' movements.

"Regardless of what the reality is just beyond the borders of Xuantian Holy Land, you two should be on high alert.

"The Holy Lord may ask you to join their training as well one day. But if that happens, try to reject their invitation.

"If you really can't, Li Qingzhou will go on behalf of Qingyun Peak."

Li Qingzhou sighed exasperatedly. "Why me again?"