Immortal Cultivation Families: The Rise of the Jinling Immortal Clan

Only after confirming that the ghost head on the sword could not escape on its own did Xia Yuhui feel relieved enough to turn back.

Upon their return, Xia Guangzheng and Xia Yufeng had already cleaned up the battlefield.

The three eventually reunited, scanned the battlefield once more with their divine senses, and after confirming that no flaws had been left, they immediately ascended into the sky on their swords and disappeared into the distance.

Five incense sticks later, in a secluded valley.

At this moment, the three of them had recovered fully from their meditation, their faces beaming with smiles. Several days ago, they had already divided up their spoils, and each of them had gained something. Xia Yuhui alone received 540 spirit stones, as well as various cultivation resources. If he were to sell these resources, he could obtain at least another 100 spirit stones.

Admittedly, the greatest gain this time was not these spirit stones or cultivation resources, but various cultivation techniques or spells.

Because Shenjia County is far from Jinling County, the cultivation techniques here differ greatly from those collected in the family's library. If these techniques are brought back, the family's cultivators will have more choices when selecting cultivation techniques in the future.

Of course, they also received contribution points, which their families strongly supported. After all, most of the cultivation techniques and spells in the Scripture Pavilion were obtained in this way.

Now, after 700 years of development, the Xia family has at least 100 cultivation techniques in its library, including three that can be cultivated to the peak of the Foundation Establishment stage.

It is precisely because of these numerous cultivation techniques that the family has been able to grow stronger day by day. Although the Xia family has now declined, with only a Foundation Establishment patriarch remaining, the Qi Refining cultivators are stronger than ever before.

After all, they have a more diverse range of spells and magical artifacts to choose from than cultivators in the past.

Just like Xia Yuhui's "Blazing Fire Technique," although it can only be cultivated to the Foundation Establishment stage, this technique is truly skilled in killing. Not only does it have 20% more magical power than ordinary techniques, but it is also of very high quality. The only drawback is that the cultivation speed is slower than ordinary techniques.

In addition to these gains, the three of them also copied a sword technique together. This sword technique was used by that evil cultivator and was called "Flowing Light Sword Technique".

Once mastered, one can unleash this sword technique, increasing the speed of one's own magic sword and further enhancing its attack power.

When the sword technique is executed, the magical artifacts emit flowing light, hence the name "Flowing Light Sword Technique". However, regrettably, this extremely excellent technique is only an incomplete version, and can only be used to wield a high-grade Qi Refining magical sword at most.

Nevertheless, all three copied it down and decided to practice this sword technique.

After all, they had already experienced the sword technique used by that evil cultivator. Its destructive power was so great that even if Xia Yuhui and Xia Guangzheng joined forces, they would have difficulty subduing him.

Of the three, Xia Yuhui was the most delighted to obtain this sword manual. After all, his divine sense was exceptionally powerful; now, at the seventh level of Qi Refining, his divine sense had reached the peak of Qi Refining. He could now wield three high-grade magic weapons and perfectly utilize their effects.

If he were to master this sword technique, he would possess three incredibly fast flying swords, potentially becoming a nightmare for his enemies.

Xia Yuhui was confident that ordinary cultivators of the same level would be no match for him at that time.

"If they have both recovered, we will set off immediately. It would be best if we could be on time, leaving a good impression on that Foundation Establishment cultivator, which would also be helpful for our mission." After confirming that both of their cultivation levels had recovered, Xia Guangzheng said solemnly.

Both nodded in agreement, as they were well aware of the vast difference between Foundation Establishment cultivators and Qi Refining cultivators.

With such a vast difference in strength, their social status must also be worlds apart.

Some heretical cultivators would even kill Qi Refining cultivators at the slightest provocation. Although the situation was slightly better for righteous cultivators, it wasn't much better. The reason this mission targeted these family cultivators was probably to use them as cannon fodder.

Xia Yuhui was certain that if there was anything in the mission that needed to be investigated, the order would definitely start with the cultivators from his family. However, there was nothing he could do about it. This was the world of cultivation; if you couldn't adapt to the environment, you could only become fertilizer for it.

And so, the three of them set off for their destination once again. However, because Shenjia County was in a state of chaos, they were all very cautious.

Seventeen days later, the three arrived at the border of Shenjia County. In another half day, they would be able to leave Shenjia County's territory. Once they reached the territory under the Guiyun Sect, there was no need to worry about the evil cultivators suddenly appearing. After all, the Guiyun Sect controlled seven counties; its strength was not to be underestimated.

Of the seven prefectures, there are only two Golden Core cultivators, both of whom reside in the Guiyuan Sect. Therefore, no evil cultivator dares to plunder within the Guiyun Sect's territory.

Guiyun Sect actually controls seven prefectures, six of which have cultivation families, while the last prefecture is where Guiyuan Sect is located. This area is vast, comparable to two prefectures, and its spiritual energy is extremely rich. If one is a disciple of the sect, one does not need to take pills when cultivating, and one's cultivation will definitely be twice as effective with half the effort.

Therefore, many independent cultivators, even racking their brains, still want to join the Guiyun Sect. However, the Guiyun Sect's assessment is extremely rigorous, requiring not only exceptional innate talent but also multiple tests, including tests of temperament and aptitude for various cultivation arts. It can be described as extremely demanding. Of course, cultivation families also offer benefits.

Every thirty years, each Foundation Establishment family is eligible to send one family cultivator to join the Guiyun Sect. However, even if these cultivators reach Foundation Establishment, they will certainly find it difficult to advance to the higher levels.

Just as the group breathed a sigh of relief and were about to quickly enter the Guiyun Sect's territory, a sudden change occurred. Three late-stage Qi Refining cultivators suddenly appeared behind them and flew rapidly towards them.

Xia Yuhui was the first to notice and immediately informed the other two, who then immediately became alert. Originally, Xia Yuhui wanted to probe the strength of these three, so he scanned them with his divine sense.

The result was that the three of them were only at the sixth level of Qi Refining. Xia Yuhui found this result hard to believe, since these three were capable of flying on swords.

Xia Yuhui immediately realized that the three must have used some kind of method to conceal their cultivation levels, and he was secretly amazed. His divine sense was now extremely powerful due to the souls he had absorbed in the last battle, and it was even possible that it had broken through the barrier of the Qi Refining stage, but he still could not detect the cultivation levels of the three. Therefore, there was only one conclusion: the identities of these three were definitely not simple.

Seeing the three getting closer, Xia Guangzheng made a decisive decision and ordered a retreat.

The three immediately flew towards the territory of Guiyun Sect. If the three were indeed evil cultivators, they probably wouldn't dare to make a move so easily on the territory of Guiyun Sect.

“Three fellow Daoists ahead, please do not misunderstand. We are cultivators from the Shen family. We are on a mission to Guiyun Sect. May I ask if you are cultivators from other families?” However, just after the three had flown a distance, a voice came from behind.

Upon hearing this, Xia Yufeng and Xia Yuhui were about to stop when Xia Guangzheng glared at them fiercely and said, "You readily believe what others say. We'll settle things when we get to Guiyun Sect. If they are indeed cultivators from the Shen family, it won't be too late to befriend them then."

As expected, Xia Guangzheng was more experienced. Xia Yuhui immediately became alert and secretly warned himself that he must not be so reckless next time.

This is a common problem among cultivators in the cultivation world: once they have a little strength, they become complacent and completely unaware that there are always mountains beyond mountains and people beyond people.