Longevity: Starting with an infant's innate growth potential

Chapter 306 Zhou Ling's First Merit
"How is this possible? Zhou Zhizheng's strength is simply terrifying!"

"A Foundation Establishment cultivator has killed two fourth-tier demonic beasts in succession? I can't believe my eyes!"

"He truly is a young genius; his strength is terrifying!"

Inside the Heavenly Gate Sword Light Formation, the other sword cultivators all wore expressions of shock.

Absolutely stunning!
I can't believe it!
Is this really a Foundation Establishment cultivator?
A Foundation Establishment cultivator killed two fourth-tier demonic beasts in succession.

If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, no one would believe it no matter how much I told them.

Not only were they shocked, but even Deacon Luo and Dean Gong, who were familiar with Zhou Ling, were somewhat dumbfounded.

In Deacon Luo's view, Zhou Ling's talent in weapon crafting was undoubtedly exceptional, given that he was able to become the Director of the Heavenly Crafts Bureau.

I never expected that his individual combat strength would be so formidable!

This made him secretly rejoice, realizing that joining the Chen family as a guest elder was indeed a wise choice.

As for Dean Gong, she was more familiar with Zhou Ling and knew his sword intent very well.

That sword strike was incredibly powerful, and it even faintly conveyed the essence of the sword's intent.

However, she knew in her heart that the Five Elements Unifying Sword was able to achieve such power mainly because of the assistance of the five spiritual flames.

It was not Zhou Ling's own sword intent.

Of course, the fact that Zhou Ling could perform the Five Elements Unity technique in such a way also shows how rapidly his strength has improved.

This will deepen Zhou Ling's understanding of the Heaven and Earth Sword.

However, Zhou Ling's body was also greatly depleted from these consecutive battles, and his magical power and divine soul were almost exhausted.

Only the physical body and vital energy remain to fight.

However, Zhou Ling did not take any further risks.

For him now, he has already exceeded expectations.

The military achievements in this battle were considerable, and they also obtained the corpses of two fourth-tier demonic beasts.

Content with that, he then hid within the sword formation.

After all, among the demonic beasts, there were two demon kings battling three Nascent Soul cultivators.

However, their battle took place high in the air.

It won't have much impact on the battlefield below.

Of course, Zhou Ling was also worried that killing two fourth-tier demonic beasts like this might attract the attention of the Demon King.

That would be too dangerous.

So, we need to resume operations discreetly from now on.

However, as he successively killed two demonic beasts, the entire battle situation changed drastically.

First, within the Heavenly Gate Sword Light Array, four giant swords condensed into two, as the Palace Master's sword intent was injected.

The giant sword shone with a brilliant blue light, and everything within the sword formation seemed to transform into falling sword energy.

Finally, with a flick of her jade hand, a storm of azure sword light burst forth from the sword gate.

They coalesced into two giant swords, each a hundred feet long.

Two giant swords swept across the sky, and in an instant, the world fell silent.

The entire area covered by the sword formation, spanning several miles, was transformed into green wood sword energy.

It wasn't just the whistling sword energy within the Sword Gate, but also the wind blowing in the air, and the rocks and vegetation on the ground.

It was as if at this moment, everything had transformed into the azure sword energy.

At this moment, the entire sword formation transformed into a sea of ​​green sword energy.

The surging sword energy was gathering and condensing according to a certain pattern.

It was as if a world of swordsmanship was being created.

At the same time, Zhou Ling felt the Five Elements Sword on his body resonate once again.

This resonance was significantly stronger than the one I experienced during my last cultivation session with Dean Gong.

Zhou Ling was overjoyed.

Even though he just used the Five Elements Spirit Flame to unleash the Five Elements Return to One Sword, it was still far from achieving this level of power.

Unexpectedly, Dean Gong has now already stepped one foot into the threshold of the Heaven and Earth Sword Sect.

"Zhou Ling, thank you for that sword strike!"

At this moment, Zhou Ling saw a smile appear on Dean Gong's pretty face.

Then she pointed with her jade finger.

The two giant swords that had just been formed slashed down at the two demonic beasts.

The terrifying sword aura, like the might of heaven and earth, was truly astonishing.

Even though the Fire Spirit Tiger unleashed its full blood energy and condensed into a hundred-foot-tall giant tiger, it was still directly annihilated by the giant sword.

"Woo!"

The Fire Spirit Tiger let out a miserable cry as its massive blood claw was severed.

Endless sword energy shot into its body, rapidly extinguishing its life force.

Large gushes of blood gushed from its body like fountains, and its life force rapidly ebbed away.

The same scene was happening not far away.

"Roar!"

The dragon-horned blood lion spewed out lightning from its mouth, shattering the surrounding sword energy, and charged out of the sword formation.

Upon seeing the Silver-Striped Flood Dragon killed, it could no longer care about anything else and now only thought about escaping the sword formation.

But Dean Gong remained indifferent, his body radiating sword intent.

With the help of the magic array, she had entered the state of "Heaven and Earth as One Sword".

The sword energy within the sword domain suddenly surged, giving rise to a sense of vastness and immensity.

"cut!"

Dean Gong pointed at the Green Wood Greatsword, and with a whoosh, the sword light surged, and the Green Wood Sword Qi erupted violently.

Suddenly, the dragon-horned blood lion that had created a path suddenly shivered and froze.

In that instant, the Aoki Greatsword had already slashed down from the sky.

"Roar!"

Sensing the terrifying giant sword that threatened its life, the Dragon Horned Blood Lion no longer cared about escaping. Its blood energy surged, and large amounts of lightning shot into the sky with a thunderous roar, attempting to shatter the Azure Wood Sword Domain.

Although the lightning was incredibly powerful, upon contact with the Azure Wood Greatsword, it was cleaved in two as if struck by a meteorite from outer space, vanishing without a trace and failing to hinder the Azure Wood Greatsword in the slightest.

"Boom!"

The sword energy slashed down as if a sharp blade were cutting through tofu, and a burst of azure light swept across the body of the dragon-horned blood lion.

"Roar!"

The Blood Lion with Dragon Horns screamed in pain, its red horns flashing with dazzling lightning as it tried to fight back, but the giant green wood sword slashed down from all sides.

A shimmering, bluish light followed.

The Dragon-Horned Blood Lion didn't even have time to let out a follow-up scream before its breath died.

His entire body turned to ashes within the sword domain.

The seemingly magical giant green wooden sword, after slaying two demonic beasts in succession, also dimmed and dissipated.

In an instant, the strange phenomenon of green wood in the world vanished.

A gentle breeze blew, and everything returned to normal.

The Green Wood Sword Domain also collapsed and vanished.

Dean Gong stood in the air, his expression calm.

The other six Golden Core sword cultivators, though pale-faced, displayed joy, excitement, and exhilaration.

Undoubtedly, the sword strike performed by Dean Gong was quite enlightening for them.

After all, with the help of the sword formation, they can most clearly sense the changes in sword intent.

Everyone can gain their own insights from the essence of swordsmanship.

"Dean, are you alright?"

Zhou Ling felt that the Five Elements Sword on his body had stopped flashing, and hurriedly asked.

With his divine sense sweeping over the area, he could sense that Dean Gong's cultivation level was less than one-tenth of what it used to be.

It's clear how much energy is required to unleash this sword strike!
"The fourth step of the Falling Wood Sword Intent is the Sword of Life, which can be used as a sword for anything that is alive."

At this moment, Dean Gong, who had just awakened from his state of enlightenment, explained to Zhou Ling with a slight smile.

"Was that the fourth step of the Sword of Life?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Ling couldn't help but ask curiously.

The sword that unites heaven and earth signifies the need to comprehend one's own unique way of the sword.

From the sword intent of falling leaves, Dean Gong comprehended the sword intent of life, which was a tremendous leap.

"Not yet!"

Dean Gong shook his head slightly, "What I just gained was through your guidance on the Five Elements Unifying, and it doesn't yet qualify as the true fourth realm." "Not yet!"

Zhou Ling frowned. The terrifying power of that sword strike just now was not even at the fourth level.

How terrifying would the true Fourth Realm be?
However, given Dean Gong's abilities, he has already reached this point.

The rest will be quick.

Perhaps it won't be long before we can truly enter the Fourth Realm.

"Let's drive away the monsters for now. I'll tell you about the sword intent when we get back!"

Dean Gong spoke softly to Zhou Ling again.

Zhou Ling nodded.

"The Heavenly Gate Sword Light Formation has successfully killed four fourth-tier demonic beasts!"

"Fellow Daoists, the rest is up to you!"

Dean Gong's voice, carrying an air of domineering arrogance, resounded throughout the entire battlefield.

Originally, their sword formation held back four fourth-tier demonic beasts, making them the weakest link in the entire Nascent Soul battle.

But now it has become the most powerful link.

Incredibly, without any Nascent Soul cultivators present, he managed to slay four fourth-tier demonic beasts in such a short time.

On the battlefield, the other Nascent Soul cultivators were stunned when they heard this, and some of them still didn't believe it.

However, given Dean Gong's status, he would never speak carelessly about matters of life and death.

Moreover, this victory did come at a price; it is clear that Dean Gong and his men have lost their fighting strength.

Immediately, the human cultivators were invigorated, and their morale soared.

Four fourth-tier demonic beasts perished so easily. If it weren't for the fact that the demonic beast army in the west was already in chaos, many people would find it hard to believe.

The human cultivators cheered with great joy.

Morale soared.

After more than two months of fighting against the demonic beasts, they have only managed to kill two fourth-tier demonic beasts, but three human Nascent Soul cultivators have perished.

They suffered a great loss.

The war has only been going on for a short time, and they've already killed four fourth-tier monsters.

The other Nascent Soul cultivators who were dealing with fourth-tier demonic beasts were now bursting with fighting spirit.

The fact that Dean Gong and his team won so quickly proves that Zhou Ling's insights were entirely correct.

For a moment, they held nothing back and charged with all their might!

Although the number of monsters is astonishing, only some of them, at the third rank or higher, have developed intelligence.

With the fourth-tier demonic beasts killed, the demonic beast army lost its leader and quickly fell into chaos.

Some even started fighting amongst themselves.

On the other hand, the human race was filled with fighting spirit.

On Zhou Ling's side, the main battlefield had become a one-sided massacre.

Large numbers of demonic beasts fled in all directions under the attack of human formations, fire and lightning balls, and other magical artifacts.

Although each monster killed adds to the military merit.

However, Zhou Ling remained cautious and did not launch another attack.

The military merits from killing two fourth-tier monsters are enough; there is no need to take any more risks.

Moreover, at this moment, Dean Gong had exhausted himself and was taking a pill to recover.

I must protect her too.

Of course, the final outcome of the battle was determined by the fight between the two fifth-tier demon kings and the three Nascent Soul cultivators.

However, given their cultivation levels, determining a winner might not be so easy.

Therefore, in the battles at low altitudes, the decisive factor is the fight between Nascent Soul cultivators and fourth-tier demonic beasts.

Zhou Ling and his team's victory undoubtedly changed the entire battle situation significantly.

Before they knew it, the battle had reached a fever pitch.

The entire battlefield was incredibly brutal, littered with corpses, mostly those of demonic beasts.

However, many humans were also killed!

"Boom!"

"Yu Feng of Jinhe Immortal City has killed a fourth-tier Blood Ape!"

A moment later, a booming voice resounded across the battlefield.

Another fourth-tier demonic beast has been slain.

"I, Ye Haitian of Anyang Immortal City, have slain a fourth-tier unicorn dragon!"

"I, Hong Sheng of Anyang Immortal City, have slain a fourth-tier Blood Crying Beast!"

······.

As time went by, a series of soul-stirring sounds rang out.

After more than half a day of fighting, eight fourth-tier demonic beasts had already been killed.

This was a huge blow to the demon army.

Moreover, with other Nascent Soul cultivators joining the battle, the remaining twelve fourth-tier demonic beasts were in even greater danger.

Moreover, there was no longer a fourth-order demonic beast to suppress them.

The demon army was in complete chaos.

Rumble!
The killing continues!

From dawn until night.

"I, Feng Wu of Anyang Immortal City, have killed a fourth-tier Savage Beast!"

Another soul-stirring sound rang out.

Eleven fourth-tier monsters have been killed so far.

Meanwhile, the demon army had begun to retreat, moving further and further away from the outer city of Anyang Immortal City.

"Bang bang!"

At this moment, the sky above Anyang Immortal City was brightly lit, and the sound of drums resounded throughout the heavens and earth.

This was the war drum that stopped the monk army's pursuit.

The demon army has retreated a hundred miles, suffering heavy casualties.

Moreover, this is also within the coverage area of ​​the Anyang Immortal City's grand formation, without the support of various major battles.

If the human cultivator army continues its pursuit, it will inevitably pay a heavy price.

At that very moment, lightning burst forth high in the sky, and crimson light and lightning enveloped the heavens.

It is clear that the battle between the Nascent Soul cultivator and the fifth-order demon beast has reached a critical moment.

Therefore, Lord Qi beat the war drums to order the cultivator army to stop their pursuit.

"You old scoundrel Chen, I will avenge the loss of your claw one day!"

With a roar, two streaks of blood-red light shot towards the desolate wilderness.

"If you dare to invade my Anyang Immortal City again, I will surely cut you down with my sword!"

Chen Zhenglei's voice was like thunder rolling in the sky, booming and exploding.

······.

When the three beams of azure light descended from the clouds onto the city wall, the foot of Anyang Immortal City was already filled with cultivators.

Zhou Ling, Dean Gong, and others stood on the city wall.

Originally there were seventeen Nascent Soul cultivators, but now only fifteen remain. Two Nascent Soul cultivators were killed by fourth-tier demonic beasts in the battle.

Of course, on the human side, they directly killed thirteen fourth-tier demonic beasts.

It can be said that it was already an overwhelming battle.

With the two fifth-tier demon kings also suffering heavy injuries, the demon beasts would certainly not dare to invade Anyang Immortal City again in the short term.

The crisis of this beast tide can be considered to have been perfectly resolved.

As the light faded, Chen Zhenglei and his two Nascent Soul cultivators landed on the city wall.

"Greetings, senior!"

"Greetings, senior!"

The thousands of cultivators present bowed to the three of them and cheered.

The key to this victory lay in the three of them defeating the two demon kings.

"No need to be polite, everyone."

Chen Zhenglei said solemnly, his tone carrying an air of authority.

Looking at Zhou Ling and the others, he smiled and said, "In this battle, Zhou Ling killed two fourth-tier demonic beasts and obtained a lot of useful information, which enabled him to kill these thirteen fourth-tier demonic beasts. He deserves the greatest credit!"

(End of this chapter)