Exploring Immortality Cultivation
Chapter 419 - 172: Ancient Cultivator Re-emerges [Third Release]

As the survey deepened, Wang Qi gradually moved away from Divine Capital, heading deeper into the protected area.

Chen Feng was tracking several demon beasts with fixed positions, with a tracking probe magic artifact implanted in their bodies. These probes extracted a part of the mana from the demon beasts' metabolism to operate themselves and then sent signals to the Immortal Alliance's "artificial satellite," displaying the demon beasts' movements on the "Immortal Hero Version GPS." Additionally, they could transmit a kind of short-wave signal, which also served as a tracker.

As Wang Qi crossed off the demon beasts one by one from the list, the investigation approached its end; he only needed one more eagle-hawk type demon bird to complete the task. But at this moment, Wang Qi encountered a problem.

"What's going on now?" Wang Qi looked at the map illusion in front of him, visibly perplexed. This map illusion was projected directly into his consciousness by a personal calculator; logically, it should have shown every detail clearly, even the most minute aspects. Yet, how could this map become blurry?

What should have been a small pinpoint signal source had turned into a blot of diffused red ink, and the map itself was somewhat distorted. Wang Qi initially thought it was a problem with the calculator. However, he immediately remembered that he was using the Seeking Dao Jade.

The Thousand Mechanism Pavilion wouldn't offer counterfeit products as prizes, would they?

As Wang Qi walked further, he discovered more serious issues; the entire map began to distort, and what should have been satellite imagery suddenly sprouted static. Wang Qi had to switch to the final nearby path rank "program" before this anomaly disappeared.

"It's not a problem with the calculator itself; could it be a strong interference area? Or just outside of the service area?" Wang Qi mused, "I should have downloaded an offline map earlier."

"This area seems to be an Ancient Demon Clan relic zone, with unknown spirit prohibitions," Zhen Chan, knowing Wang Qi wasn't very concerned with these details, offered proactively.

Only then did Wang Qi vaguely remember hearing something of the sort. He had heard of the demon clan relic cluster when he first came to Divine Capital; Beifeng was in Divine Capital because of the Immortal Alliance's excavation work.

The Immortal Alliance's approach to exploring the relics differed greatly from that of the Ancient Method Era. In ancient times, entering relics was mainly to gain inheritance, magical treasures, materials, and other possessions left by ancestors. However, for the Immortal Alliance of today, these ancient technologies from tens of thousands of years ago held no practical significance; it was their historical representation and the inspiration they provided that were valuable. From this perspective, the restrictions on the relics were also quite worth studying. When the Immortal Alliance broke an external restriction of a relic, they first thoroughly studied it, then hacked into it like a hacker, and normally shut down the restriction. This process could take a long time, but since the Modern Cultivators didn't need the relics' materials, they could afford to wait.

Wang Qi climbed a tree and looked around, finding no signs of human habitation within several miles. He couldn't help but sigh, "This relic cluster really is vast. I heard that an archaeological team of over a hundred Golden Core and Foundation Establishment people are excavating here, yet there's no sign of anyone."

Zhen Chan extended his spiritual sense. His range of spiritual perception still far exceeded Wang Qi's field of vision. After sensing for a while, Zhen Chan said, "There are two people about two hundred yards southeast of you, though something seems off..."

Suddenly, Wang Qi felt a slight warmth from the ring on his hand. His body trembled slightly, and the feeling was strangely familiar, yet he couldn't recall where he had encountered this sensation before and impulsively said, "Old man, stop it."

Zhen Chan was puzzled, "I haven't done anything... Eh? This feeling—wait, lad! Those two people two hundred yards away have noticed you, Foundation Establishment Stage!"

Just as Zhen Chan offered his warning, two streaks of sword light burst through the treeline like water dragons!

With a sharp gaze, Wang Qi recognized, "This swordsmanship..."

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Li Yuncong and Tang Xiao, two Foundation Establishment Cultivators, lay on the ground in an awkward position, holding several protective talisman-like magic artifacts and inching along as if searching or sensing for something.

Tang Xiao had a tan complexion. Most of the Xia People of Shenzhou couldn't tan this deeply naturally, suggesting he might have mixed heritage with the Southern Barbarians. He complained softly, "Has Junior Master Zhai gone mad? What's the point of doing this? There won't be any new discoveries, right?"

"Shut up and concentrate," said Li Yuncong, significantly senior to Tang Xiao, reprimanding him impatiently.

"You ask when this life will ever end?" Tang Xiao simply abandoned his work, staring into the sky, slightly lost in thought.

Li Yuncong seemed to be affected as well. He knelt on the ground, it was unclear whether he was comforting Tang Xiao or convincing himself, "Once we find that Immortal Artifact, we can get out of this godforsaken place."

"We could return to the Far Sea, no longer needing to live a life of hiding and we might even get a chance to... feast and revel."

Tang Xiao gazed towards the direction of Divine Capital, lost in thought as he spoke, "That's not what I meant... For feasting and reveling, big cities should be better, right? I've never seen a metropolis in my life..."

Li Yuncong snorted coldly, "Are you crazy? All big cities are guarded by Heterodox Primordial Spirits, your True Law persona can't be hidden in front of them. Do you think you'd be captured and dissected, bred or tested with Gu poison?"

The so-called Heterodox and True Law are what Ancient Method Practitioners refer to as Modern and Ancient Method.

Without doubt, these two "True Law Practitioners" were regarded as vermin on the streets in Shenzhou, as Ancient Method Practitioners.

Tang Xiao remembered what his master Senior Brother had said about Heterodox Cultivators. They are obsessed with "techniques" and disregard "Dao," using all means necessary to develop spells. He shivered and said with a grievance, "But I just want to see the throngs of people in ancient texts, the scenes of bustling activity transmitted by word of mouth..."

The Far Sea has few islands and many Sea Demons, with few people and no capability to build cities. Moreover, for some unknown reason, the Ancient Method Cultivation World has had a trend of developing underground in the past few centuries — all sects establishing themselves in underground cities they dug out.

It's as if they were avoiding a great enemy from the sky.

This puzzled Tang Xiao even more. The Far Sea was actually the domain of the Dragon Clan, and the greatest threat seemed to be from the seabed. The sky? Could that place with few islands even produce large Demon Birds?

However, this was the sect's decision, and he could only comply. In his decades of cultivation practice, he had spent more time underground than on the surface. Before coming to Shenzhou, Tang Xiao didn't even know that "forests" actually existed in the world.

"Focus on your work. Stop daydreaming." Li Yuncong stood up and picked up the Protective Talisman, resuming his search on the ground like a dog searching for a lost item. Suddenly, he exclaimed delightedly, "I feel it! The resonance of the Immortal Artifact suddenly doubled! There must be a fissure here! Thousands of years have indeed been enough for the Spirit Prohibition to develop flaws!"

Tang Xiao reluctantly glanced once more in the direction of Divine Capital, resolved to suppress his longing. Immediately after, his gaze sharpened as he spotted someone standing on a tree in the distance!

"Senior Brother Li, there's someone over there!"

"Damn it, a Heterodox Cultivator?" Li Yuncong made a decisive call, "We can't let him live to return! Attack with the strongest sword technique!"

The two brothers both manipulated the Hand Mnemonic simultaneously, transforming two beams of Sword Light into two Jiao Dragons, charging towards the distant cultivator with overwhelming momentum.

Seeing this Sword Light, the color drained from the distant Heterodox Cultivator's face.

"This Sword Art, it's you…"

The hatred in his voice sent shivers down the spine.

Wang Qi sang softly, "It's you... Emperor's Extreme Heaven Splitting Dao…" (To be continued. If you like this work and would welcome voting with recommendations or monthly tickets, your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)