Daoist Competition

Zhang Yan spent three days before he emerged from the mountain valley path and returned to the surface, where a dirt road built from packed earth appeared in front of him.

He followed this road, traveling by concealment for five miles, and then he saw a market of about a thousand people and mules, with a strong odor wafting toward him.

He gathered his mana into his eyes and looked forward, seeing from afar a dozen or so scattered settlements, with the smallest having around a few hundred people and the largest no more than a few thousand.

Although this place was far less populated than the state cities within Song Country and lacked the wealth and prosperity, he still saw strands of spiritual energy rising straight into the sky like long straight smoke, clearly indicating that there were cultivators residing here.

This kind of scene is invisible to ordinary people, only cultivators like him can see it clearly.

However, he had inquired beforehand that these people were not Lie Xuan sect members, but rather loose cultivators who did not want to be constrained by the three sects and had fled here, forming a loose Dao Alliance known as the Zhenluo Alliance.

If one were to discuss the strength of this alliance, it was quite substantial, and the alliance had a large number of cultivators, enough to stand against the three major sects if they united.

Central Pillar Continent uses Zheping Mountain as its boundary, with the east side as Pingdong Land, home to the three major sects, densely populated, and the essence of the continent is mostly concentrated here.

On the west side is the land west of Ping, though it contains vast grasslands and expansive mountains and rivers, the land is vast with few people, and the people mainly rely on herding and fishing for their livelihood. The three sects originally considered it as a barbaric place, rarely ventured here, so the loose cultivators occupied it.

Zhang Yan did not wish to encounter those few cultivators and engage in further interactions, so he deliberately avoided them.

After traveling a hundred miles, he lifted himself onto the cloud’s edge, stopped to summon the Mountain and River Child, checked the direction, and then sped up his tunneling speed heading towards Kunyu.

After half a day, he had penetrated deep into the interior of Central Pillar Continent. Looking down from above the clouds, the land was boundless, the plains lush with water and grass, large herds of cattle and horses were running about, icy-blue lakes dotted the land like gems embedded, making the scenery grand and magnificent.

However, at this moment, he suddenly sensed something strange, halted his movement, and inspected carefully, a few traces of surprise appeared on his face.

He pinched a spell and unfolded Water Element True Light, spreading out a glow in front of him.

He gathered his power into his eyes, searched within, but discovered that the long-bearded Daoist who was trapped here a few days ago and the Powerful Warrior captured with him were gone!

Looking carefully, he saw a strange insect about the size of a palm, with several pairs of wings on its back, wandering around, and he said in realization, "So it is you causing trouble here!"

This was the Blood Line Golden Worm he had captured days ago. Ever since it was caught, it had been confined within the Water Element True Light, originally thinking that after these days, it would have died inside, but unexpectedly, it was still alive and well.

Not only that, but it also had eaten cleanly all the people he left inside the True Light.

After knowing the truth, he was uninterested in further attention, intending to retract the Water Element True Light. But at that moment, the golden insect seemed to sense something, suddenly shook its wings, transformed into a golden light and flew out. Having been trapped for a long time, it escaped the cage at once, flying back and forth, emitting squealing sounds, appearing excited.

Zhang Yan watched it fly joyfully and laughed, "Why not, since you have gotten out today, it is as fate intends, I will not pursue catching you, go where you will."

He flicked his robe sleeve, intending to leave, but the golden insect suddenly squealed, dropped down, blocked the path ahead, and circled around him repeatedly.

Seeing that this insect bore no ill intention, Zhang Yan asked, "What else do you want?"

The golden insect called out again towards him, and unexpectedly spat out a round and substantial drop of essence blood, suspending it in front of him.

Zhang Yan’s eyes shone with a strange light, this showed that the golden insect was actively recognizing him as its master.

He thought for a moment, muttering to himself, "Although this Blood Line Golden Worm was cultivated by Demon Sect Practitioner Yu Gu She, it is also a remarkably powerful exotic flying insect. If released suddenly in battle, it might achieve unexpected effects, why not accept it."

This kind of good thing delivered to his doorstep, he naturally wouldn’t refuse, so he did not hesitate anymore, extended a finger to take in the essence blood with a smile.

Previously, there were hundreds of golden insects, but trapped within Water Element True Light for decades, unable to consume flesh, they could only devour each other, and in the end, only this one survived.

However, it was a blessing in disguise, the golden insect originally only acted on instinct, but the sole survivor now has developed some spiritual wisdom.