Daily Divination From Market Rogue Cultivator To Immortal Venerable - Chapter 426

Chapter 426 Apologies from All Parties, Re-entering the Vermilion Bird’s Nest (Seeking Subscriptions)

A few days later.

Li Chang’an arrived at the Xuanwu Sect with the Xuan Shui Turtle.

He was about to look for the old turtle when he suddenly sensed something unusual about the spiritual energy within the Xuanwu Sect.

“Eh, is the old turtle breaking through?”

He immediately stopped and patiently waited for the breakthrough to finish.

That evening.

The old turtle emerged from seclusion, his aura much stronger than before, his cultivation having reached the mid-stage of the fourth rank!

Li Chang’an smiled and stepped forward to congratulate him.

“Congratulations, Fellow Daoist Turtle.”

“It’s just a small realm advancement, nothing to brag about.”

The old turtle’s tone was calm, but he couldn’t suppress the smile on his face.

After more than five thousand years of arduous cultivation, he had finally taken a small step on the path of cultivation.

For a demon cultivator like him who thirsted for the Great Dao of Immortality, nothing was more gratifying than a realm advancement.

However, he did not become complacent and quickly concealed his aura.

“Mid-stage fourth rank is still too flashy; early fourth rank is enough.”

The old tortoise smiled, suppressing his displayed cultivation level to early fourth rank.

Only then did he notice the change in the Xuan Shui Turtle.

“You little tortoise have broken through too? Not bad, not bad!”

The old tortoise praised repeatedly, his face full of satisfaction.

The Xuan Shui Turtle respectfully said, “Thanks to your excellent guidance, senior, otherwise I wouldn’t have reached this point today.”

He showed no disrespect, maintaining a junior’s attitude, and showered the old tortoise with praise more than ten times, which the old tortoise found particularly pleasing.

The old tortoise smiled and said, “Fourth-rank demon beasts can already transform. What will you look like after you transform?”

Hearing this, the Xuan Shui Turtle immediately transformed.

He transformed into a child wearing a black robe, about six or seven years old.

After transforming,

he had no characteristics of a demon beast at all, not even demonic aura.

Cultivators below the Nascent Soul stage couldn’t discern his origins at all, only regarding him as an ordinary human child.

“Not bad, your transformation is perfect, just like mine back then, which shows your bloodline is quite good,”

the old tortoise informed.

Not all demonic beasts can transform perfectly.

Most demonic beasts retain some of their demonic characteristics after transformation.

Unless their strength continues to increase, those characteristics will not disappear.

“Take this six-winged water serpent for example, its bloodline isn’t very good.”

Saying this, the old tortoise tossed out the six-winged water serpent.

“Water serpent, transform and show me.”

“Yes.”

The six-winged water serpent dared not disobey, and to save its life, it obediently transformed.

In the blink of an eye,

it too had transformed into human form.

However, many black scales remained on its arms, between its eyebrows, and other areas, and it had six black wings on its back, making it look very strange.

“This is a sign of inferior bloodline,”

the old tortoise pointed at the six-winged water serpent.

After saying this, it put it into its spirit beast pouch and discussed the matter of making it public with Li Chang’an.

The Xuan Water Turtle had advanced, and it was time to make this public.

“Even if we don’t say anything, the demonic path will. What do you think, Fellow Daoist Lin?”

“Alright, then I’ll trouble Fellow Daoist Turtle to gather the Nascent Soul cultivators from all sides.”

Li Chang’an put away the Xuan Shui Turtle and sat quietly to the side, waiting.

The old turtle then began contacting many righteous Nascent Soul cultivators.

Several hours later.

Zhuque, Qinglong, Mingxia, and others arrived one after another, their faces filled with doubt.

Qinglong Zhenjun asked, “Old turtle, you haven’t shown yourself for many years. I thought you had died of old age. Why did you suddenly summon us?”

“Qinglong, you brat, I can live for another five thousand years without any problem!”

The old turtle snorted, not directly explaining the reason, but simply asking them to sit down first.

Not long after, almost

everyone who was supposed to come had arrived.

The old turtle then explained the reason: “Everyone, a major event has occurred within my Xuanwu Sect…”

He slowly recounted the story, from the death of Xuanwu Zhenjun, to his own sealing, and then to the present.

Of course, he glossed over many details about Li Chang’an, only mentioning that Lin Xuanyan and his sister had hidden in Changqing Mountain for a period of time.

After listening to him finish…

Those present were all shocked and remained unsettled for a long time.

“The Sacred Flame has betrayed the Demonic Path?”

“No wonder he targeted Changqing Mountain; it must be to find Lin Xuanyan and his sister.”

“What a beast! Xuanwu treated him like his own son, and he did such a thing.”

“What a pity for Xuanwu and the Crimson-Eyed Flood Dragon…”

Back then, everyone couldn’t understand how Xuanwu Zhenjun, with his strength, could have died in the siege of more than ten Yellow Spring Blood Corpses, not even escaping at the Nascent Soul stage.

Now, the truth is revealed!

The deaths of Xuanwu Zhenjun and the Crimson-Eyed Flood Dragon, as well as Li Chang’an’s collusion with the Demonic Path, all have been answered.

Jiang Xuanyuan’s eyes were cold as he looked at Baihu Zhenjun and Huangsha Zhenjun.

“Baihu, Huangsha, you two have targeted Changqing Mountain and young friend Li Chang’an for years. Now that the truth has come out, what do you have to say?”

Hearing this, Baihu and Huangsha both remained silent, their faces cold.

They were indeed wrong.

But as dignified Nascent Soul Zhenjuns, they couldn’t possibly apologize to Li Chang’an, a Golden Core cultivator.

Unless Li Chang’an himself could become a Nascent Soul cultivator.

But that was clearly impossible.

He had been at the Core Formation stage for many years, yet his outward cultivation level remained at the early Golden Core stage, seemingly without any improvement.

Of course,

Li Chang’an was too lazy to listen to their apologies.

These two were already on his list of targets to eliminate, and they would be dealt with sooner or later.

After a while,

the old tortoise released the Holy Fire True Monarch, the Six-Winged Water Serpent, and two other people, allowing everyone to interrogate them.

Seeing these three people and one demon, everyone was somewhat shocked.

They had finally managed to capture a fake Nascent Soul Demon Mountain True Monarch, but the old tortoise and Li Chang’an had already secretly taken down four even stronger ones.

“No wonder Fellow Daoist Lin Fan wasn’t interested in interrogating that Demon Mountain; he must already know the inside story.”

Everyone recalled Li Chang’an’s attitude in the Zixia Sect’s main hall and suddenly realized.

Then, they began the interrogation.

During this time,

Lin Xuanyan and his sister returned to the Xuanwu Sect.

Facing their sect after so many years, both were momentarily dazed.

Lin Xuanpei murmured, “So the Turtle Ancestor really did have a plan; he could subdue the Xuanwu Sect himself without me even needing to achieve Nascent Soul.”

Lin Xuanyan sighed, “This time, we owe a great debt to Fellow Daoist Li. It was because of Fellow Daoist Li’s intervention that Senior Lin Fan agreed to help our Xuanwu Sect. Furthermore, Fellow Daoist Li has been bearing the pressure from the Holy Flame True Monarch for us, without revealing any information to the outside world.”

Hearing this, Lin Xuanpei fell silent for a moment.

She had never understood why the old tortoise had sought out Changqing Mountain.

In her eyes, Li Chang’an was merely a lucky Golden Core cultivator, inferior even to her own retainers, and utterly incapable of influencing the overall situation of the Nascent Soul forces.

Now, she finally understood.

If it weren’t for Li Chang’an’s help, they might already be in the hands of True Monarch Holy Fire, and the Xuanwu Sect wouldn’t have been so quickly subdued by the old tortoise.

“Brother, we haven’t properly thanked Fellow Daoist Li yet.”

“No need for face-to-face thanks. Fellow Daoist Li hates trouble. Just give him some treasures, preferably body-refining treasures.”

Lin Xuanyan smiled, knowing Li Chang’an well.

The two approached the old tortoise, looking at True Monarch Holy Fire being interrogated by numerous Nascent Soul cultivators, both filled with anger and confusion.

“Why did he have to betray the demonic path?”

This was a question many Nascent Soul True Monarchs wanted to know.

However,

no matter what methods they used, Holy Fire refused to explain.

He simply said calmly, “You wouldn’t understand. If you were in my situation, you would still choose to follow Tianming.”

He said nothing more.

After numerous fruitless attempts…

The group could only turn their attention to interrogating the six-winged water serpent and the other two.

They quickly learned the true purpose of the demonic path.

“The Thousand Mines?”

“Why did Tianming want to open those central mines?”

They exchanged bewildered glances.

Qi Jiuyang asked, “Old Turtle, Fellow Daoist Lin, do you know the reason for this?”

“We don’t know either. What do you all think?”

“In my opinion, it would be better to reopen those mines…”

Those present offered their suggestions one after another.

Ultimately, everyone unanimously decided to reopen the central mines.

They all speculated that

what Tianming Zhenjun wanted might be related to the Nascent Soul realm.

If they could obtain it beforehand, they might be able to change the final outcome of this war between good and evil!

“In any case, we cannot let Tianming touch the Nascent Soul realm.”

Those present were somewhat wary of Tianming Zhenjun.

After the discussion,

they all set off for the Thousand Mines.

Li Chang’an and the Old Turtle followed, but they trailed far behind.

The old tortoise secretly transmitted its voice: “Fellow Daoist Lin, those large mines haven’t been opened for thousands of years. No one knows what’s inside. If things look bad, we should run immediately.”

“Alright!”

Although Li Chang’an was curious about the large mines, he wouldn’t risk his life for curiosity.

Before long, the Thousand Mine Caves came into view

in the distance. Everyone’s expressions were extremely solemn. No one dared to be careless, and they all slowed down, stopping some distance from the central large mines.

Li Chang’an and the old tortoise stopped even further away.

Soon,

Mingxia, Heisha, and Yuhu, three mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivators, worked together to break the seal left thousands of years ago.

As the seal gradually disappeared, the atmosphere became increasingly tense.

Almost everyone was prepared to retreat.

A moment later,

the last layer of the seal disappeared.

“Whoosh…”

Wisps of cold wind drifted from the large mines, causing a layer of frost to form at the mine entrances.

Aside from that, nothing else seemed amiss.

However

, for some reason, everyone felt uneasy.

The entrances to the mines were all deep and silent, like gaping maws about to devour all the cultivators present.

Li Chang’an felt extremely uncomfortable just looking at them from afar, and had an urge to get away from this place as soon as possible.

“I absolutely cannot go in, not even as a clone,”

he silently warned himself.

The old tortoise beside him said, “Fellow Daoist Lin, let’s retreat a bit more; this place doesn’t seem safe enough.”

“Alright, that’s what I was thinking.”

The man and the tortoise retreated a distance.

The others followed suit, moving away from the mine entrances.

After some discussion,

everyone decided to send their respective servants to probe first.

Soon, a team composed of Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, and Golden Core cultivators set off, slowly entering the various mine pits.

The Nascent Soul cultivators waited outside, hoping their servants could bring them useful information.

However,

not long after,

the cultivators who had entered the mines lost contact with them.

There was no response, no one emerged, and not even a sound.

Each mine was eerily silent, swallowing everything in its wake.

The cultivators exchanged glances, their expressions grim.

“The situation in these mines seems even stranger than it was thousands of years ago.”

“We must not be careless.”

“Send another batch of servants in!”

For the next few days,

they repeatedly probed, but the situation remained unchanged.

…

In the blink of an eye, more than half a month had passed.

During this time,

the high-ranking Golden Core cultivators of various sects all learned of the Holy Fire True Monarch’s defection to the demonic path.

Many realized they had wronged Li Chang’an and came to Changqing Mountain to apologize.

“Fellow Daoist Li, everything I did in the past was wrong. I shouldn’t have trusted others so easily. I hope you will forgive me.”

Chi Yuehua, the Holy Maiden of the Azure Dragon Sect, apologized, her beautiful face full of sincerity, and presented a body-refining treasure.

Not only her, but almost everyone brought treasures. Li Chang’an

accepted all these treasures

without hesitation.

After a long time, Changqing Mountain finally regained its peace.

…

A few days later.

Outside the Thousand Mine Caves.

The Vermilion Bird True Monarch suddenly found him.

“Fellow Daoist Lin, those large mines haven’t made any progress. Why don’t you come with me to the Vermilion Bird Sect first? I’ve already spoken with Cang Hong, and I’ll let you try entering the Vermilion Bird Secret Realm.”

“Alright, I’ll give it a try.”

Li Chang’an still lacked confidence in the illusions within the Vermilion Bird Nest.

During this time, he had collected a batch of treasures to resist the illusions from various channels, but their quality was low, barely enough to be considered worthless.

He told the old tortoise, and then headed to the Vermilion Bird Sect with the Vermilion Bird True Monarch.

On the way,

the Vermilion Bird True Monarch explained the situation inside the Vermilion Bird Nest to him in detail.

The interior of the Vermilion Bird Nest was extremely vast, fraught with danger, and perilous at every turn.

Throughout the ten thousand years of the Vermilion Bird Sect, countless cultivators have ventured into the Vermilion Bird Nest to explore, yet its entirety remains unknown.

Perhaps they haven’t even explored a tenth of its area.

Just then,

midnight arrived.

A golden light appeared before Li Chang’an’s eyes.

[The divination has been updated]

[Today’s divination: Auspicious]

[You have accepted the invitation of the Vermilion Bird True Monarch, entered the Vermilion Bird Nest, and successfully obtained the storage bag of the previous generation’s Vermilion Bird True Monarch.]

“Huh?”

The divination surprised Li Chang’an.

All four True Monarchs of the Vermilion Bird Sect, including Cang Hong, a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, had failed, yet he had succeeded.

The word “successfully” in the divination indicated that he hadn’t encountered much danger or obstacle.

“It seems the old Vermilion Bird’s storage bag is destined for me.”

Unable to understand it at the moment, he could only explain it as fate.

Several hours later,

the two arrived at the Vermilion Bird Sect.

At the entrance to the Vermilion Bird Secret Realm, Li Chang’an met True Monarch Cang Hong.

Compared to last time, Cang Hong’s aura was significantly stronger, confirming he had indeed become a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator.

Li Chang’an smiled and greeted him.

“Fellow Daoist Cang Hong, I heard your cultivation has greatly improved, congratulations.”

“Just lucky.”

Cang Hong Zhenjun’s tone was somewhat indifferent, his mood seemingly not very good.

He looked at Zhuque Zhenjun and secretly transmitted his voice: “Why must we let Lin Fan try? Even I couldn’t do it, how can this fake Nascent Soul cultivator succeed?”

Zhuque Zhenjun replied: “Cang Hong, Fellow Daoist Lin is not an ordinary fake Nascent Soul cultivator, he defeated the White Tiger.”

“That was clearly the White Tiger’s carelessness.”

“In any case, someone has to retrieve the Vermilion Bird Token!”

Zhuque Zhenjun’s attitude became more resolute.

“Cang Hong, you and I have both failed. If we refuse to let outsiders try, when will we ever be able to retrieve it?”

Hearing this, Cang Hong Zhenjun fell silent, no longer speaking, which was considered tacit agreement.

And so,

the three of them entered the Vermilion Bird Secret Realm together, heading towards the Vermilion Bird Nest.

Several hours later, the crimson nest composed of countless spirit trees appeared before Li Chang’an.

The last time he came here, Li Chang’an was only at the Golden Core stage.

Now,

he possessed the vision of a Nascent Soul cultivator.

Seeing the Vermilion Bird Nest again evoked a different feeling in him.

“The stronger one is, the smaller one feels before this Vermilion Bird Nest.”

After a moment of careful contemplation, Li Chang’an, along with Vermilion Bird and Cang Hong, entered the Vermilion Bird Nest, heading straight for the place where the previous Vermilion Bird had fallen.

Along the way,

various illusions appeared one after another.

Most Golden Core cultivators would find each step difficult.

But they were all Nascent Soul cultivators, easily seeing through countless illusions and passing through one dangerous place after another.

During the journey, True Monarch Vermilion Bird explained to Li Chang’an that the dangers of many dangerous places had actually been eliminated, but they had deliberately left some for testing the disciples of the Vermilion Bird Sect.

There were hundreds of trial grounds in this Vermilion Bird Nest.

The long staircase that Li Chang’an had experienced with Mu Hongyu and Ning Mengwei was one of the many trial grounds.

Most of the trial grounds were for Golden Core cultivators, and a few were for Nascent Soul cultivators.

Before long,

the three arrived at their destination.

What appeared before Li Chang’an was a long and narrow passage.

At the entrance of the passage, there was a semi-transparent barrier with iridescent colors.

Through the barrier, a decaying corpse could be vaguely seen in the far distance ahead.

“Is that the previous Vermilion Bird?”

“It is.”

The Vermilion Bird True Monarch nodded slightly, her expression becoming more solemn.

“Fellow Daoist Lin, once you cross this barrier, countless illusions will arise. You must proceed according to your abilities and not force yourself,”

she told Li Chang’an.

If he was injured in the illusions, his real body would also be injured.

If he died in the illusions, he would perish here, just like the old Vermilion Bird.

Therefore,

once injured, he could not proceed further.

The illusions ahead would only grow stronger; he would either be unable to escape or die within them.

After hearing her words,

Li Chang’an did not hesitate and stepped across the barrier.

“This barrier must be the boundary of some kind of special formation. With my current mastery of formations, I cannot see through it, and I wonder if there is a formation spirit present.”

Just then,

a cold voice suddenly rang in his ears.

“You are the successor of the Azure Emperor; you can pass through here.”

The successor of the Azure Emperor?

This sudden statement startled Li Chang’an.

He didn’t know who the Azure Emperor was, nor was he anyone’s successor, leaving him somewhat bewildered.

“Whatever, if he says so, then so be it. It won’t harm me anyway.”

He remained vigilant, slowly approaching the remains of the previous Vermilion Bird True Monarch.

After only a few steps, he suddenly sensed a life force deep within the passage.

That force was very strange to him; it was clearly very weak, like a candle flickering in the wind, yet it also exuded an extremely powerful aura.

“Very strong, far stronger than I am now. I shouldn’t approach it lightly.”

Li Chang’an withdrew his gaze, not intending to venture deeper into the passage.

His purpose here was simply the old Vermilion Bird’s storage pouch.

“Hopefully, that Heavenly Thunder Umbrella is still there.”

With the Heavenly Thunder Umbrella, plus the other treasures he had previously acquired,

he could safely pass through his Nascent Soul tribulation.

(End of Chapter)