The Journey of Projection Upgrading
Chapter 210: Magical Taoist Practice

Song Qing's words became bolder.

At the dining table, fueled by alcohol, he began to constantly talk to Chen An, expressing his various frustrations.

"My junior brother can practice with the support of the sect's power, but I am miserable. I was sent to Nine An City, where even if I want to practice, I don't have the conditions," complained Song Qing, looking miserable and frustrated. "I must admit, my talent was good back then, and I should have achieved something. But I accidentally offended a steward's son and ended up being suppressed and sent to Nine An City."

Are you really having such a hard time now?

Chen An couldn't help but think as he looked at the respectful and nervous people from prestigious families below.

In his view, Song Qing's current life was quite good.

Although he had no hope of further advancement in cultivation, he could still dominate and enjoy various things in Nine An City.

Apart from the lack of spiritual stones and elixirs, he could satisfy most of his daily luxuries and live like a king.

You're already in this situation, what more do you want?

Chen An couldn't help but complain in his heart.

However, he also knew that human desires were insatiable.

When you enjoy good things, you always want more, never satisfied.

This was the case for Song Qing.

For cultivators like them, the mundane pleasures of ordinary people were nothing, just easily obtainable things.

As long as one was willing, even a cultivator who had just opened up his Purple Palace could dominate outside, easily ruling over a mountain, enjoying privileges that ordinary people could not imagine.

For a cultivator like Song Qing at the fourth level of Qi refining, he had even more choices.

The worldly pleasures meant nothing to him.

In comparison, these things were far less rare than opportunities for further advancement.

Opportunities for cultivation, that was the rarest thing in this world.

And this opportunity could only be obtained within Haoshan Sect.

Because only within the sect would there be enough fellow cultivators and seniors, sufficient spiritual stones and elixirs, and various opportunities for advancement.

"If possible, I really want to return to the sect, even if I have to be controlled by others," Song Qing complained, exuding negative energy.

What else could Chen An say?

Considering that the other party was the host after all, he could only nod in agreement.

It was also a good opportunity to see what exactly Song Qing was up to.

Seemingly encouraged by Chen An's cooperation, not long after, Song Qing drunkenly grabbed Chen An's hand and began to speak, "My brother, I have an opportunity here. As long as things are done well, there will be great benefits. It is even possible to become an elder in the sect. I don't know if Brother is willing to do it."

"Oh?" Chen An showed a look of interest. "I'm curious, what opportunity is this exactly?"

"It depends on how you perform, junior brother," Song Qing grinned mysteriously, then laid back as if he were drunk.

Of course, it was definitely an act.

This wasn't an ordinary situation.

As a cultivator at the fourth level of Qi refining, his physical strength was comparable to that of an Internal Energy Realm martial artist. How could he get drunk so easily?

Chen An thought to himself and glanced around unconsciously.

Unbeknownst to him, most of the aristocratic representatives had already left, leaving only a few.

And these people had similar characteristics.

"The aura of demonic cultivators," Chen An murmured as he raised his glass.

He could sense the aura of demonic cultivators emanating from these people.

Of course, it was just a trace.

Because these people were fundamentally ordinary people, not cultivators.

But from this aura, it was clear that most of them were Song Qing's close followers.

Otherwise, they would have been driven away long ago.

"Is this considered guarding the house against thieves?" Chen An thought to himself as he looked at the fallen Song Qing.

From the situation of these people present, it was obvious that the current Song Qing was definitely not unrelated to those demonic cultivators.

Even if he dared to think boldly, the demonic cultivator appearing in Nine An City might be none other than Song Qing himself.

This was entirely possible.

However, Chen An wasn't prepared to do much.

After all, he wasn't really planning to give his all to Haoshan Sect.

What did it have to do with him if it involved demonic cultivators?

Just the fact that he had come to carry out this task was already giving them face.

To be honest, Chen An was regretting it now.

If he had known it would be so troublesome, he wouldn't have come out.

Wouldn't it be better to stay obediently in the alchemy room and refine elixirs?

But it was too late to regret now.

Chen An shook his head inwardly, then got up, bid farewell to Song Qing with a nod, and left directly.

A servant came forward and led Chen An to his room.

After Chen An left, the main hall began to stir.

In just a moment, Song Qing raised his head from the table and sat back in his seat.

His face was calm, his expression composed, without a hint of alcohol.

He didn't look drunk at all in this posture.

Like Chen An had expected, he was faking it.

Of course, not only Chen An knew he was pretending, but Song Qing also understood that Chen An knew he was pretending.

Both of them were clear, but neither of them exposed it.

Some things couldn't be said in normal circumstances.

They could only be spoken of in a semi-drunken state.

Otherwise, it wouldn't be testing the waters, but showing their hands.

"Has Junior Brother Chen returned to his room?" Song Qing raised himself from the table, stretched lazily, looking as if he had just had a good rest.

"Yes, he has."

A servant responded from the side, "Will the City Lord take action?"

"No need," Song Qing shook his head and looked at the person, "My Junior Brother Chen is from the alchemy hall and has a good relationship with several alchemists. It's better not to make any moves. Even if we manage to seize Haoshan Sect later, those alchemists are pillars and cannot be touched."

This was the truth.

Whatever their plans might be, even if they wanted to seize Haoshan Sect, the supply of pills was essential.

And the alchemists who could produce enough pills were core talents in many sects, not easily recruited.

Apart from a large number of fixed assets such as spiritual veins and mountain protection formations below, the group of alchemists were also valuable resources of Haoshan Sect.

If they were disposed of, who would compensate for the losses?

Song Qing understood this, so he wasn't planning to act against Chen An.

"Take the items over," he thought for a moment and said, "Let's see how Junior Brother's attitude is."

"Yes, sir."

The servant nodded and respectfully withdrew.

On the other hand, Chen An had already returned to his room and was preparing to rest.

There were candles lit around the room, and the light activated by spiritual power shone brightly, making it look as clear as day.

"Come in."

A knock came from outside, and Chen An, unsurprised, let them in.

The door opened, and a beautiful maid walked in.

In her hands was an item, which she placed in a box and put down.

"The City Lord has asked me to give this to you, Immortal Elder."

She said respectfully as she placed the box down.

"Put it down."

Chen An nodded and let her place the item down.

After a moment, the maid left, and the door closed again.

Chen An opened the wooden box and looked at the contents.

"Huh?"

Chen An's face showed surprise.

In the box were two things.

Several black pills with faint blood streaks on them, giving them a mysterious look.

And the other was a scroll.

"Blood Demon Sutra."

Chen An opened the scroll, read it briefly, and then frowned.

This was undoubtedly a demonic cultivator's scripture.

Unlike the Haoshan Sutra of Haoshan Sect, this scripture revealed the unique aspects of demonic cultivation from the beginning.

The biggest difference between cultivators of orthodox sects and demonic cultivators lay in their ways of cultivation.

Cultivators of orthodox sects generally followed the purest way of cultivation, seeking the purest qi of the heavens and the earth to cultivate their divine power.

On the other hand, demonic cultivators tended to use various external substances to enhance this process.

For example, blood sacrifice.

The Blood Demon Sutra before him was such a scripture. According to its teachings, practitioners needed to devour the blood qi of others, continuously kill people, and cultivate their divine power by consuming blood, thus opening up the Purple Mansion for cultivation.

And the cultivation that followed was even more about killing.

In theory, as long as one killed enough people and consumed enough blood, one could continue to advance endlessly.

A crisp sound echoed.

Chen An closed the scripture and couldn't help but frown.

This demonic cultivator was truly quite demonic.

The cruel scenes described in the cultivation method were clear just by reading the cultivation method.

Relatively speaking, although cultivators of orthodox sects weren't much better, they wouldn't seek blood sacrifices from ordinary people or seek human lives without reason.

But undeniable as it was, this demonic cultivation method also had its advantages.

The biggest advantage was speed.

Although their cultivation process required killing many people, using this cultivation method could greatly speed up one's progress.

Under the same conditions and talent, these demonic cultivators would probably advance much faster than orthodox sect cultivators.

And they barely needed resources.

In theory, even without spiritual pills or herbs and other resources, these demonic cultivators could rely on blood sacrifices from ordinary people to advance without much hindrance.

Of course, the drawbacks were significant as well.

Future cultivation would likely encounter many problems with blood sacrifice as it was easy to lead to various issues, such as falling into demonic practices or transforming into various monsters.

Chen An had heard quite a bit about this type of practice within Haoshan Sect.

"What is he trying to say?" Chen An pondered after reading the Blood Demon Sutra.

Song Qing deliberately sent this item over for a reason.

Was it a test or a showdown?

(End of this chapter)