Chapter 26: Which Senior
Chapter 26 Which Senior
"Garden Master, come out and meet me."
The entire herb garden was deadly silent, without a single person.
Except for the floating disheveled man in the air.
With an unruffled expression and a chilling gaze, he fixed his eyes on the residential area.
The night was as cool as water, and the only dozen or so people in the herb garden, including cultivators and mortals, all hid in the secluded corners of the residential area.
Under the demonic aura of a Foundation Establishment cultivator, everyone didn't dare let out even a breath.
Not coming out?
The disheveled man waited for a few moments, his expression darkening.
If the other party obediently came out and showed utmost respect, his temperament would most likely prevent him from killing.
"Since you're not coming out, Liang will drag you out." The disheveled man's voice was ice-cold, and his pupils flickered with a sinister red light.
Earth-Shaking Demonic Sound!
The disheveled man's hair fluttered, and he closed his eyes tightly, murmuring incantations.
In an instant, an invisible demonic soundwave, with him as the center, swept toward every nook and cranny around the residential area.
"Ahh..."
The living beings swept by the mental soundwave experienced a sensation of the earth shaking, screaming in agony, exposing their positions, and then bleeding from their mouths and noses before passing out.
Li Ergou and several other cultivators couldn't withstand it for more than two breaths before howling and fainting.
"These weaklings should not be the Garden Master."
The disheveled man's "Earth-Shaking Demonic Sound" was a secret technique for spiritual searching, adept at probing for living beings hiding in buildings.
As long as they had a spiritual consciousness, unless their cultivation was far superior to his, they could hardly avoid it.
"Hiding quite deeply?"
The courtyard where Lan Chang'an was located was also a target of the disheveled man's search, and the demonic mental soundwave permeated into the basement.
Huh!
The disheveled man revealed a strange expression, almost mistaking Lan Chang'an for a rotten log. Not only that, after being swept by the Earth-Shaking Demonic Sound, Lan Chang'an only let out a muffled groan, with no major reaction.
"Interesting." The disheveled man slowly descended toward the courtyard, extending his white, delicate palm, with a cruel smile on his lips. Just as he was about to apprehend and kill his target, an unimaginable scene appeared at this moment.
"Daring junior!"
From beneath the courtyard, a spiritual pressure far exceeding that of an ordinary Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator emerged, accompanied by the sonorous voice of an old man, charging straight into the disheveled man's heart and mind.
"Foundation Establishment?" The disheveled man's mind wavered, and immediately sensed a dangerous aura.
Soul-Severing Blade!
An invisible blade of spiritual sense, carrying a bizarre trembling wave, slashed into the disheveled man's mind.
"Ah! Hiss!"
The disheveled man's face turned pale, and he almost fell into the courtyard, painfully clutching his forehead.
A drop of bloody tear flowed from the corner of his eye. Only then did a young man in white robes appear a few zhang away.
The young man was clearly only at the middle stage of Qi-Refining, yet he carried an aura of antiquity and strength, even stronger than the disheveled man by half a notch.
"Dare I ask, which senior it is?" The disheveled man steadied himself, astonished and puzzled.
This young man had just employed a profound secret art of spiritual sense, damaging his mind, and almost triggering his old wounds.
Spiritual sense secret art, even ordinary Core Formation elders may not be able to learn.
How could it appear on the young man in front of him?
Furthermore, he felt that there seemed to be an additional soul aura on this young man. The disheveled man had some guesses in his mind.
"This old man is Yan Donglai! A Nascent Soul Great Spirit from an era bygone."
The young man in white robes stood with his hands behind his back, exuding an aura of antiquity and simplicity that could never be imitated by a mere Qi-Refining cultivator.
A Nascent Soul Great Spirit! The disheveled man sucked in a mouthful of cold air, his heart shaken three times inwardly.
No wonder this person knew profound secret arts of spiritual sense; even with spiritual sense only at the Foundation Establishment level, he had injured the disheveled man's mind. To be called a Nascent Soul Great Spirit, he must be at least at the late stage of the Nascent Soul Realm.
A great figure like this, even Nascent Soul True Monarchs of the Flame Departing Palace would have to respectfully address him as a senior.
In the cultivation world of the Liang Kingdom, let alone the late stage of Nascent Soul cultivators, not a single cultivator at the middle stage had emerged in thousands of years.
"So it is Senior Yan. This junior has disturbed you, please forgive me." Liang Shaotian did not dare stand with his hands behind his back, and he cupped his fists respectfully. In his heart, he had some speculations about Lan Chang'an's current state.
This young man might have the remnant soul of a Nascent Soul Great Spirit attached to him. Such an ancient monster, though extremely weak now, who knew how many mysterious and unfathomable methods he possessed.
"Who are you and why have you come to disturb this place?" Lan Chang'an stood with his hands behind his back, his eyes deep and profound, interrogating him.
At this moment.
The "handsome young man" from the first life of the Nine Seal Stele detached from the first seal imprint, its light and shadow vividly manifesting, and merged into Lan Chang'an's body.
In his first life, Lan Chang'an's cultivation had reached the peak of the ninth layer of Qi-Refining, with spiritual sense surpassing his realm, nearing the early stage of Foundation Establishment.
In this life, Lan Chang'an's middle stage of Qi-Refining already surpassed that of an ordinary late stage.
The fusion of these two lives, coupled with the secret arts of spiritual sense from his second life, unleashed a terrifying spiritual intimidation, directly shaking the disheveled man.
"In reply to Senior Yan, I am Liang Shaotian."
The disheveled man did not dare to be negligent, respectfully answering:
"This junior is a cultivator from the northern lands of the Liang Kingdom. Due to being framed by others, I was pursued and ambushed by the cultivation sects, sustaining severe injuries that caused my cultivation to plummet. This is why I was forced to resort to such measures..."
"Liang Shaotian?"
Lan Chang'an muttered, having never heard of this person's name.
"Your foundation has been damaged, and you cannot replenish it." He glanced at Liang Shaotian again and shook his head.
"Cannot replenish it? May I ask the senior how to treat it?" Liang Shaotian humbly asked for guidance.
"You need Yin nourishment. Slowly recuperate, and do not consume too many spirit pills and spiritual herbs that are overly Yang in nature." Lan Chang'an calmly replied.
Yin nourishment?
Liang Shaotian pondered, then cupped his fists and said, "Thank you, Senior Yan, for your guidance. This junior has offended greatly and will take his leave now."
Hearing that the demonic cultivator was leaving, Lan Chang'an secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
By borrowing the spiritual power of his first life's soul, he could only unleash two instances of the spiritual sense attack he had used earlier, unable to truly threaten this Foundation Establishment demonic cultivator. After all, the spiritual power of the Qi-Refining realm was incomparable to that of the Foundation Establishment realm.
"Right, Senior Yan." Liang Shaotian flew out a few zhang, suddenly turning back, his gaze flickering as he looked over.
"Could I take some of the precious spiritual herbs from the herb garden?" This sudden change made Lan Chang'an inwardly sigh that the demonic cultivator pup was cunning.
Evidently, this person had some doubts about his strength and condition. This is why he spoke those probing words.
At this moment, he could not show weakness and easily let Liang Shaotian take away the precious medicinal herbs. Otherwise, it would only allow the other party to gain an inch and see through his apprehension.
Of course, he could not behave too arrogantly either, treating the other party like a fool to be scolded.
If a Nascent Soul Grand Spirit had even one-tenth of his foundation, the spiritual sense attack earlier would have torn Liang Shaotian's soul apart.
Both parties were clear about this. It was just that they viewed each other with wariness.
"Spiritual herbs, what do you have to trade?" Lan Chang'an replied impassively.
"What does the Senior require?" Liang Shaotian's hair flowed down his back, revealing a pale face with distinct features, a high bridged nose, slightly thin lips, and dark, chilling eyes.
Lan Chang'an inwardly thought that this evil cultivator was also a handsome man.
"Do you have any Foundation Establishment Pills?"
"No." Liang Shaotian's mouth curved slightly.
He guessed that this Nascent Soul old monster was likely just a remnant soul, with incomplete memories, and still had to pave the way for the young man he was possessing.
"Alchemy inheritance, body refinement inheritance, puppetry inheritance... do you have any of these?" Lan Chang'an continued asking.
"I don't have a puppetry legacy. But I do have pill refinement and body cultivation legacies." Liang Shaotian took out two jade slips.
Lan Chang'an enveloped the jade slips with his spiritual power and inspected them.
He found that they contained a Foundation Establishment Realm pill refinement inheritance and a body refining technique called the 'Cloud Sand Body Refinement Manual'.
Lan Chang'an put away the jade slips, allowing Liang Shaotian to take a batch of precious spiritual herbs.
"Senior Yan, a pleasant cooperation."
Liang Shaotian revealed a smile, yet there was a sense of perversity.
"This junior is currently facing and after this move, I will travel far away. I hope that in the future, I can still receive Senior Yan's guidance..."
With that, Liang Shaotian drifted away.
...
Lan Chang'an stood with his hands behind his back until he confirmed that Liang Shaotian had left, only then releasing his hands.
In his mind, the Nine Seal Stele.
The first life's seal imprint, which had finally been lit, was once again silent and lifeless.
"Ergou..."
Lan Chang'an checked on the condition of the cultivators in the herb garden.
Fortunately, the "Earth-Shaking Demonic Sound" used by Liang Shaotian was only an auxiliary secret technique for searching, and none of the cultivators or mortals in the herb garden had died.
"It seems this demonic cultivator is not one who indiscriminately kills the innocent."
Lan Chang'an knew that when Liang Shaotian used the Earth-Shaking Demonic Sound, if he had been more overbearing, he could have at least killed those mortals.
...
Not long after, Li Ergou and the other cultivators gradually woke up, looking utterly exhausted.
"Big Brother Lan, where did that evil cultivator go? Did he give you any trouble?"
Li Ergou was still shaken by the experience.
"No, I was hiding in the basement earlier and suddenly passed out. It was probably because my cultivation is low that he didn't think I was the Garden Master." Lan Chang'an's reply was reasonable.
Normally, a place as important as the herb garden would have a late stage Qi-Refining cultivator as its master. Due to the war on the front lines, they had to temporarily lower the standards. The Zheng Family's situation was slightly better, as they had dispatched a robust cultivator at the sixth layer of Qi-Refining.
For the Mu Family to station Lan Chang'an, at only the fourth layer of Qi-Refining, as the guardian of the herb garden, the family head Mu Maode was also taking a gamble.
"Hahaha! So having a low cultivation can also have its benefits."
Li Ergou felt relieved that although the herb garden had suffered losses, everyone was safe and sound.
After waiting for an hour.
Lan Chang'an's brow furrowed: "Why haven't the reinforcements from the family arrived yet?"
"You, go back and report the situation to the family." He instructed a young girl.
(End of chapter)