Immortality Cultivation

Fang Hao was hiding in the shadows, watching with great interest.

Well, the Black Fiend Sect had gone to such great lengths to destroy Red Leaf Valley, yet before they could even taste the meat, they had attracted a pack of jackals sniffing around, hoping to get a share of the spoils.

Look at that Old Ghost Zhao from the Flowing Cloud Sect and the several groups behind him; all their eyes were glowing green as they stared at the fog Restriction of Red Maple Cliff, just like hungry wolves eyeing a piece of fatty meat.

"Fight, fight! It would be best if you beat each other’s brains out."

Fang Hao secretly gloated in his heart.

This situation was even better than he had anticipated.

Although the Black Fiend Sect was powerful, they had just finished a hard battle, and their Nascent Soul Elder was tied up inside the Restriction.

Outside, only the Late Golden Core Stage Elder Li remained, leading two Early Golden Core Stage Cultivators.

Against the coalition of local snakes like the Flowing Cloud Sect and the Qingyang Sect, they might not necessarily have the upper hand.

Even if they won, it would inevitably be a pyrrhic victory with huge consumption.

When the snipe and the clam struggle, the fisherman benefits.

He, the fisherman Ning, loved this kind of drama the most.

He was in no rush to go out; he just crouched in the pool behind the waterfall, concealing his aura and condensing his Divine Sense into a thin thread, like the most hidden tentacle, quietly probing into the depths of the mist-shrouded Restriction at Red Maple Cliff.

He wanted to see how much progress Elder Mo of the Black Fiend Sect had made.

The fog was thick and seemed to have the effect of blocking Divine Sense exploration.

However, Fang Hao’s current Divine Sense, having been tempered by the Chaos Derivation Art and nourished by his Nascent Soul, was far stronger and more refined than that of Cultivators of the same rank, comparable to the Middle Nascent Soul Stage.

He carefully controlled his Divine Sense, avoiding the obvious and agitated Qi nodes in the fog (evidently reactions triggered by the Restriction being disturbed), and like a swimming fish, he infiltrated toward the core area where the Qi fluctuations were most intense.

Soon, his "vision" pierced through the layers of mist and "saw" a portion of the scene inside the Restriction.

He saw that near the mountain body of Red Maple Cliff, where there should have originally been a cliff face, there was now an opening about three zhang high, shrouded in a faint red light.

Outside the opening, it was a mess; the ground was covered with charred marks, pits frozen by frost, and crisscrossing gullies, clearly the result of an intense battle to break the Restriction.

At this moment, several Black Fiend Sect Cultivators, under the command of two Golden Core Cultivators, were manipulating various Magical Artifacts and Talismans, continuously attacking the layer of red light Restriction at the opening, which looked thin but was actually incredibly tough.

The red light Restriction rippled like water, absorbing, reflecting, or dissipating the various attacks.

Although its light seemed a shade dimmer than when Fang Hao first probed it, it remained solid.

Every time an attack landed on it, it would stir up ripples, and at the same time, a low sound, like the ringing of an ancient bell, would emanate from the depths of the Restriction, carrying an ancient and heavy aura.

In front of the Restriction, at the place closest to the opening, stood a Black-robed Elder.

This Elder had a gaunt figure, a withered face, and disheveled gray hair, but his eyes were piercing, with sharp brilliance flashing whenever he opened or closed them.

The aura on his body was as obscure as an abyss, and it was far stronger than that of Elder Li outside.

He was none other than Elder Mo, the Early Nascent Soul Stage Elder who led the Black Fiend Sect to break through Red Leaf Valley this time.

At this moment, Elder Mo was not personally attacking the Restriction; instead, his hands were forming a strange Dharma seal, and he was chanting incantations.

Hovering above his head was a small, palm-sized, pitch-black triangular banner, with ferocious ghost faces engraved on its edges.

The small banner moved without wind, rotating slowly and emitting waves of cold, evil aura.

Following Elder Mo’s incantations, wisps of black smoke continuously drifted from the small banner.

These black smokes did not disperse but, as if alive, condensed into fist-sized ghost faces with twisted, painful expressions.

They let out silent, shrill shrieks and threw themselves one after another at the red light Restriction at the opening.

The ghost faces collided with the red light, but instead of being repelled or dissipated like other attacks, they "stuck" to it like bone-fretting gangrene and began to crazily gnaw at and corrode that layer of red light!

The red light Restriction seemed quite wary of this evil power; where the ghost faces adhered, the light noticeably dimmed, and it even emitted a "hissing" sound, like cold water poured onto hot iron.

"Ten Thousand Ghost Banner? Interesting."

Fang Hao’s heart stirred.

It seemed that this Elder Mo was a demonic Cultivator who specialized in ghost-path Cultivation Techniques, and this Ten Thousand Ghost Banner was clearly an Evil Path Magic Treasure specially refined to restrain and defile various types of Qi shields and Restrictions.

Judging by this posture, he intended to use the fierce souls and evil spirits refined within this Ten Thousand Ghost Banner to forcefully "pollute" and "corrode" a gap in the Qi of this red light Restriction.

Although the method was clumsy, it was very effective.

Looking at the flickering red light Restriction, it was clearly under considerable pressure.

At this rate, I’m afraid that in a few more days, this Restriction might really be worn open by this old ghost.

"However, this Restriction doesn’t seem that simple."

Fang Hao’s Divine Sense sensed the fluctuations of the Restriction more carefully.

He discovered that although the red light Restriction was being eroded by the ghost Qi of the Ten Thousand Ghost Banner and its light was dim, deep within its core, there seemed to be an even more obscure and more majestic power hidden.

That power carried a rich aura of life and... fire attribute?

It seemed different from the wood-attribute Cultivation Technique practiced by Red Leaf Valley; it was more like fire contained within wood, endlessly generating.

"Red Leaf Loose Cultivator... Red Leaf..."

Fang Hao was thoughtful.

It seems this Ancestral Master of Red Leaf Valley was not merely a wood-attribute Cultivator; she was likely a dual Cultivator of wood and fire, and her attainments were not low.

This Restriction probably wasn’t just for defense; it also contained some kind of counterattack or self-destruction mechanism.

Forcing it open might not be a good thing.

He observed for a while longer and saw that Elder Mo was fully focused on driving the Ten Thousand Ghost Banner, with fine beads of sweat even seeping from his forehead, clearly consuming a lot of energy.

As for the red light Restriction at the opening, although it was constantly being eroded, every time it dimmed to a certain degree, that obscure, majestic power at the core would fluctuate slightly, causing the red light to stabilize a little again, showing extreme resilience.

"This old ghost won’t be able to open it for a while."

Fang Hao had his judgment.

That’s good, let them grind slowly.

The longer they grind, the greater the consumption, and the more beneficial it is for him.

He withdrew his Divine Sense and stopped paying attention to Elder Mo inside the Restriction.

He turned to "look" at the two groups of people outside who were still confronting and arguing.

Elder Li of the Black Fiend Sect had a face so gloomy that water could drip from it; he was clearly extremely impatient with the entanglement of Old Ghost Zhao and the others, but he was wary of their superior numbers and Elder Mo inside the Restriction whose situation was unknown, so he dared not act rashly.

And that Old Ghost Zhao was clearly an old fox too, certain that the Black Fiend Sect dared not tear off the mask of civility at this moment.

While probing with words, he secretly winked at the people behind him, seemingly waiting for some opportunity.

"Tsk, all of you are thousand-year-old foxes, what’s with the pretense."

Fang Hao curled his lips.

He knew that this stalemate would not last long.

Either Elder Mo inside would succeed in breaking the Restriction and come out to take charge, or these people outside would lose their patience or find an opportunity to force their way in, or... there would be a new variable.

And he, Fang Hao, was that biggest variable.

"Old Jin, analyze the strength of those people outside, as well as the surrounding environment, and simulate the best infiltration route and timing to strike."

Fang Hao gave instructions to the metal spider on his shoulder using his Divine Thought.

The red light in Old Jin’s eyes flickered slightly at a frequency invisible to the naked eye, and invisible scanning fluctuations spread out again; this time it was more concealed and had a wider range.

A moment later, a rigid voice sounded in Fang Hao’s mind:

"Analysis complete. Total enemy units: 47. Among them, two Late Golden Core Stage (Elder Li of the Black Fiend Sect, Sect Leader Zhao of the Flowing Cloud Sect). Five Early Golden Core Stage (two from the Black Fiend Sect, one from the Flowing Cloud Sect, one from the Qingyang Sect, one Loose Cultivator). 23 Foundation Establishment Stage. 17 Qi Refinement Stage."

"Relationships between enemy units: Hostile/competitive state, low trust. Environmental analysis: The terrain in front of Red Maple Cliff is open, which is not conducive to concealed approach. Behind the cliff is a precipice with a small amount of vegetation cover. 300 meters to the west, there is an abandoned building complex (former medicinal garden management area), which can provide some cover. The east side is a dense forest. Best infiltration route: Proceed west from the current position (waterfall pool), use the shadows of the abandoned building complex and vegetation for cover, and detour to the edge of the dense forest on the east side of Red Maple Cliff, about 150 meters from the target area. The enemy defense in this area is relatively weak, and there are terrain undulations that can serve as cover. Best strike timing prediction: When conflict breaks out within the enemy units, or at the moment the Restriction is forcibly opened, when attention is dispersed, the success rate is 87.3%."

Fang Hao nodded slightly.

Old Jin’s judgment was similar to what he thought.

Going out to fight head-on now, although he wasn’t afraid, would inevitably startle the snake.

If Elder Mo was cornered and acted recklessly, or if there were any changes to the Restriction, it would add unnecessary trouble.

It was best to wait until they started to mess up on their own, or at the moment the Restriction opened, then strike like thunder; it would save effort and maximize benefits.

"Then let’s wait."

Fang Hao was very patient.

People who Cultivate immortality lack nothing but time.

He simply stayed hidden in this pool, silently operating the Chaos Derivation Art to restore his Qi and consolidate his Cultivation, while dividing a wisp of Divine Sense to closely monitor the movements outside.

Old Jin entered a low-energy alert mode, its eight compound eyes flickering with a faint light, monitoring everything around.

Time passed bit by bit.

Night had completely fallen, and the stars were dotted in the sky.

In front of Red Maple Cliff, the people of the Black Fiend Sect lit a bonfire, but the atmosphere remained tense.

Old Ghost Zhao and the others from the Flowing Cloud Sect had no intention of leaving either; they lit a fire not far away.

The two sides were separated by a distance, distinct and clear.

Occasionally, their gazes collided, all carrying undisguised vigilance and hostility.

The roaring sound and Qi fluctuations inside the Restriction were sometimes strong and sometimes weak, clearly Elder Mo’s work on breaking the Restriction was not going smoothly.

The ghost-wailing and wolf-howling sounds of the Ten Thousand Ghost Banner could be faintly heard even outside the Restriction, making people irritable.

In the second half of the night, the change finally happened.

First, a dull, loud noise came from inside the Restriction, accompanied by a sharp shout from Elder Mo, mixed with shock and anger: "Careful!"

Immediately following, the red light Restriction shrouding Red Maple Cliff violently fluctuated.

The red light, which had originally only been passively defending, suddenly shone brilliantly, and a hot, explosive aura erupted from within it!

The red light rolled like magma, transforming into countless crimson, maple-leaf-like flame blade rays, shooting indiscriminately both inside and outside the Restriction!

"Not good! The Restriction is counterattacking!"

"Quick, dodge!"

"Activate defense!"