Chapter 991: Chapter 427: Swordsmanship Stirring the Primordial Qi of Heaven and Earth

Following the guidance from the jade slip provided by Hongyi, Xu Ping pinpointed several areas most likely to contain the Ten Thousand-Year Spiritual Marrow Jade and prepared to explore them one by one.

He kept a low profile, concealing his aura to the extreme, transforming into a barely perceptible shadow, silently shuttling between the mountains and valleys.

Along the way, he sensed many traces of cultivator activity.

Most were teams of Golden Core Stage cultivators, cautiously searching the peripheral areas for lower-value spiritual materials or hunting the mutated demon beasts worth a lot after being tainted by demonic qi.

Occasionally, he encountered one or two early-stage Nascent Soul cultivators who were mostly solitary travelers, moving swiftly and with wary eyes.

The deeper he went, the fewer the figures became, and the danger level increased exponentially. Replacing them were more and more grotesque mutated demon beasts.

These demon beasts were low in intelligence but extremely bloodthirsty and frenzied, attacking indiscriminately upon sensing human presence.

However, to Xu Ping, these creatures, at best equivalent to late-stage Golden Core or early-stage Nascent Soul demon beasts, were but ant-like existences.

He could hardly be bothered to slay them, so he hid his presence and bypassed them.

...

Meanwhile.

In another area of the Ten Thousand Demon Mountain, deep within a rotting swamp spanning several hundred miles, emanating a nauseating stench and bubbling with black air.

An early-stage Nascent Soul cultivator with a ruddy face, dressed in a red robe, stood atop a few hard earth mounds that barely provided footing.

His sharp gaze was fixed on a relatively clean water area at the center of the swamp, where a spirit grass stood — fully red like a lingzhi, emitting a pure yang aura — the Scarlet Sun Lingzhi.

This item is a treasure for cultivators practicing fire attribute cultivation techniques, able to purify mana and enhance cultivation.

The red-faced Nascent Soul cultivator’s face brimmed with uncontrollable joy, and after confirming there were no powerful demon beasts or other cultivators lurking around, he stretched his body forward to pick it.

However, just as his mana stirred slightly, his body poised to rise —

Buzz!

A sharp and unparalleled golden sword light, as if capable of tearing the dim sky, suddenly erupted from the shadow of a rotten tree behind him.

The speed of the sword light far exceeded the speed of sound, and it carried a peculiar rhythm; as soon as the sword stance emerged, it moved the surrounding primordial qi.

The red-faced Nascent Soul cultivator’s face changed drastically.

He wasn’t unprepared, yet this sword strike was too abrupt and bizarre.

What shocked him even more was that the space around him suddenly became thick and heavy, with the invisible primordial qi turning into shackles, pressing toward him from all directions.

Though the strength wasn’t overwhelmingly formidable, it was enough to slow his movements for that deadly instant.

"What kind of swordsmanship is this? It can actually mobilize the primordial qi to suppress?" The red-faced Nascent Soul cultivator was struck by a tumultuous wave of shock.

He frantically drove his mana, and his early-stage Nascent Soul realm erupted, easily shattering the primordial qi shackles, but the delay in that lightning moment left him too late to wield his protective spirit treasure or deploy a powerful defensive divine technique.

Sht!

The golden sword light sliced through his hastily set-up protective spiritual light as effortlessly as a hot knife through butter, then swept across his neck!

The expression of the red-faced Nascent Soul cultivator froze instantly, his eyes filled with disbelief, terror, and despair.

The next moment, his head soared skyward, and his body’s life force was instantly severed!

A miniature Nascent Soul figure, resembling the red-faced Nascent Soul cultivator, shrieked as it fled from the remains, instinctively attempting a Nascent Soul teleportation to escape.

But he suddenly remembered that this was the Ten Thousand Demon Mountain, where the space was fragile, and forceful teleportation was akin to suicide.

Just that moment of hesitation!

The golden sword light returned, as if with a life of its own, spinning precisely to cleave the panicked Nascent Soul.

"Crack!"

A light sound, analogous to shattering glass, as the miniature Nascent Soul let out a brief wail, instantaneously exploding into the purest spiritual qi, its divine soul utterly obliterated.

At this point, a scrawny, bamboo-like figure slowly emerged from the shadows.

He wielded an ancient-styled long sword with a faint golden sheen on the blade, his face displaying the satisfaction and coldness of a hunter reaping his quarry.

He expertly stowed away the red-faced Nascent Soul cultivator’s storage pouch and the Scarlet Sun Lingzhi, his eyes sweeping across the desolate swamp with a hint of a cold curve at the corners of his mouth.

"Late-stage Nascent Soul cultivators typically wouldn’t come to this dreaded place.... Ten Thousand Demon Mountain is truly a blessed land for me!"

He muttered in a raspy, unpleasant voice.

With this curious swordsmanship that could slightly mobilize the primordial qi to create momentary confinements, he had successfully ambushed several Nascent Soul cultivators of the same rank in this place, reaping great rewards.

...

Two months later.

Xu Ping followed the map to arrive at the first location that might nurture the Ten Thousand-Year Spiritual Marrow Jade — a spot situated at the convergence of cold evil veins deep underground.

He meticulously searched for several days, even employing his divine sense to probe deep into the earth veins, but aside from finding a few high-quality yin attribute ores and a few spirit grasses that favored shade, he didn’t discover any trace of the Ten Thousand-Year Spiritual Marrow Jade.

Xu Ping was not particularly disappointed.

Such heavenly spiritual objects wouldn’t be so rare if they were easy to find.

He packed up his acquisitions and set off for the next location.

Two more months passed.

Xu Ping infiltrated an ancient cultivator’s cave residence that had long since been abandoned.

The restrictions of the cave were already broken, with demonic qi thriving inside, inhabited by several powerful demonized beasts.

Xu Ping casually cleared these obstacles and thoroughly searched the cave residence inside and out, yet there was still no sign of the Ten Thousand-Year Spiritual Marrow Jade.

However, in a sealed stone chamber, he discovered a Solid Infant Pill, still retaining its medicinal power, stored within a jade box.