655 Country Mourning (2/2)
Xuan closed his eyes, and his fingers drooped down powerlessly as he was engulfed in pitch black darkness.
In the autumn of the nation's 45th year, Xuan faced his demise, and his eldest son succeeded the throne. The dukes in the nation weren't pleased and revolted, causing the entire palace to instantly plunge into the midst of chaos.
…
Elsewhere in the palace, the noise outside seemed completely irrelevant.
”Sigh… Ultimately, am I the teacher…”
Peng looked at the ”beast charcoal” in his hands, that was intricately carved into the shape of a beast, and gazed at the large golden pill furnace in front of him and sighed.
Despite hearing the teachings of the earliest Taoists, unfortunately, he still wasn't proficient at the pill refinement technique. After all, Fang Yuan previously only mentioned it a few times.
Just using this experience to refine a medicinal pill, one that could allow one to recover their youth and lengthen their lifespan, seemed a bit too unrealistic.
In reality, after subduing two Xuan Nation warriors previously, he had a thought about leaving. Unfortunately, the Xuan Nation acted too quickly and, without even waiting for him to rest for the night, used their soldiers to surround the tribe.
Facing the aggressive enemy soldiers and Xuan's unpredictability at the time, Peng could only choose to concede and become the guest minister of the Xuan Nation to spread the Celestial Sage's teachings and techniques whilst helping the Xuan king to run a furnace for refine the pills.
After all, he was only an Immortal Cultivator for a few days and had barely cultivated a little magical power. How could he be in the same league as a mutant like Xuan?
Hence, he could only act humble.
”However, using the power of the nation, my current cultivation should already exceed Xuan at his peak. However, I'm still unable to see my teacher's back!”
After the teachings of the earliest Taoist, everybody, regardless of whether they were a human or a mutant, totally had only one impression of Yuan Fang which was someone who had high morals.
Although Peng knew about the internal cultivation technique, he didn't look any older after these decades, causing Xuan to be very jealous and even inquire about the technique.
However, he was smart and didn't honestly demonstrate the technique, and he only provided information that seemed true but was actually false. He didn't pass down any accurate information, and instead, he killed Xuan.
He intentionally tricked Xuan by saying that the Immortal Cultivators in the realm must have some aptitude. This aptitude was extremely rare and, hence, those without this aptitude would fundamentally be unable to cultivate this magical power.
Using this statement and a list of cultivation techniques that were highly flawed, instantly half-convinced Xuan. He immediately opened up another path and directed Xuan into another path—pill cultivation!
Utilizing the pill cultivation technique could lengthen one's lifespan.
In reality, this was also a legitimate technique, but unfortunately, Peng ultimately didn't possess Fang Yuan's craftsmanship.
The reason behind why he still encouraged Xuan down this path was, ultimately, to find a money tree that could constantly provide him with materials to squander.
Relying on the supply of materials obtained through the power of the entire Xuan Nation, his pill cultivation techniques improved tremendously. If he opened up another furnace, he could then have a 10 or 20% chance in cultivating a spiritual pill, but why would Peng do this?
Hence, completely relying on his own lifespan, he managed to drag it out and outlive Xuan's lifespan.
”There's an order from the king to kill Peng immediately!”
At this moment, loud clattering noises also came from outside. Accompanied by the shrieks of slaves and maid-servants, a group of warriors rushed into the alchemy room with an aggressive demeanor.
”Calculating Xuan's lifespan… it's roughly around this time!”
Peng smiled and casually organized his clothes before walking out.
Seeing this state instructor, who had always been regarded as a distinguished guest, the warriors' momentum dipped, and they retreated a little before suddenly remembering their orders as they tightly clenched the sword in their hands.
”Attack!”
Accompanying the orders of the general, a few arrows instantly flew out.
”There are no levels in Heaven and Earth; use any magical techniques from the Five Elementss, go!”
Peng pointed with his finger and a few vines flew out. They caught the flying arrows like a soft whip and even struck the crowd of humans, causing a huge commotion and chaos.
At that moment, he wasn't the young chap who had just debuted decades ago. After undergoing cultivation for decades, even if he only relied on his own body, he had confidence that he could slaughter his way out of the palace.
However, he was, after all, not a bad person inside and definitely didn't want to cause massive bloodshed.
Another magical skill was instantly employed and a huge force erupted, causing the ground to tremble and the warriors to fall, one after the other.
Immediately, amidst a shrill cry, a marvelous, magnificent red-crowned crane flew down from the sky and opened both of its wings that were several Zhangs long; evidently, it was a mutant.
Peng lightly hopped, and his entire body was like a goose feather, lightly landing onto the back of the red-crowned crane.
Chirp chirp!
The white crane flapped its wings and flew into the sky.
”Shoot! Shoot it down!”
The general angrily shouted from below and continuously rushed the archers.
It was to no avail, as Peng controlled the east winds, and he fiercely directed the winds onto them, instantly causing the soldiers beneath him to be blown into a state of confusion. Arrows and the likes became more of a joke.
”It's been a pipe dream for me—ten years with Xuan. This is the everlasting fame that we would achieve…”
Peng laughed without restraint and steered the white crane, instantly becoming a black spot in the horizon.
Below them, due to the loss of the Xuan king's empire, it instantly descended into a state of chaos…
…
Kun tribe.
Kun Xie had long inherited the position of the leader. Although he, at that moment, had already become middle-aged, he still had a young complexion and had no traces of becoming old and frail.
Within the tribe, it was always rumoured that he had the miracle of meeting a deity in his early years and had magical abilities, thus further increasing the respect he garnered.
At this moment, the large changes happening in the Xuan Nation rapidly presented themselves before him through a secret channel.
”The Xuan king is already dead? Peng escaped on a crane? Okay!”
Kun Xie clapped his palms together. ”Thank you God for helping me. My Kun tribe has over tens of thousands of brave warriors, but the things that scare me within the Xuan Nation is only those two people—Xuan and Peng. At this moment, the Xuan king has died and demolished his own support before he perished. That isn't very smart… Haha…”
He could see very clearly that if Xuan kept treating Peng with courtesy, these brothers with the same teacher would have no choice but to help each other in the future to save face and perhaps encounter one of his weapons.
But at this moment, the other party destroyed his own ”Great Wall” and forced Peng to escape on his crane, actively helping him get rid of a serious problem.
”If you're indecisive when a decision is made, you will have to suffer from the chaos that results from it.”
Kun Xie stood up, determined. ”Release the soldiers immediately and vow to descend upon Xuan!”