Starting Cultivation During a Trip

The heavens know not their own height, nor do the mountains know how many fathoms they rise.

When all the dust had settled, the former Imprisoned Immortal Temple had already become a heap of ruins; everyone gradually loosened their tense nerves, dazed and shell-shocked.

Li Changgeng’s corpse lay in a pool of blood, his neck severed, headless—a scene that seemed like a dream to everyone present…

The most unreal dream of all.

Just then, a sharp crane cry pierced the end of the long night, echoing through the deep mountains with no telling how far it carried.

The dense ashen clouds slowly parted, and in the bright moonlight, a gigantic figure appeared, suspended beneath the sky, revealed before everyone’s eyes.

It was a white crane, its crimson crest gleaming like a gem, its long neck black and deep as the night, fluttering feathers shimmering with a silvery brilliance, its soaring call reverberating like a dragon’s roar.

”The white crane… The white crane from White Crane Temple…” Lin Jianyue’s beautiful face turned pale, and she was the first to cry out.

Though, after the founding of the nation, enchanting and becoming a demon was forbidden, the mountains still harbored countless spirit monsters; over the long years, a few were always bred, that was nothing unusual.

But a true demon—one that seizes a human form to become something other—this kind of being was truly terrifying.

They mingled among humans in the Red Dust, but their greatest power always lay in their deeply concealed true bodies.

That was their greatest source of strength.

Take Shi Shougong and Su Shiyu—though both were human-shaped demons, their true forms were hidden elsewhere, and once their real forms manifested, their power instantly doubled, becoming limitless.

Precisely because of this, there were very few true demons left in the world today; as for old demons of three hundred years or more, they could be counted on one hand.

However, among the Ten Great Daoist Sects’ sacred mountains, hidden deep within their heritage, a few still raised those rare, terrifying demons.

For example: the white crane at White Crane Temple, the Cang Yuan at Zhongnan Mountain, or the old turtle at Zhenwu Mountain, and so on.

Lin Jianyue did not know whether the crane before her eyes was truly that three-hundred-year-old elder—yet its oppressive presence made her tremble regardless.

In the crane’s eyes gleamed an emotion uncannily like a human’s—so cold and indifferent it was chilling, that feeling of supreme aloofness as if a true god were incarnate upon the earth.

Whoosh—

The mountain winds howled. Zhang Fan’s face was grave, and, supported by Jiang Lai, he struggled to stand, feeling an immense pressure from the presence of the white crane before him.

If the white crane before them also counted as a demon, then Shi Shougong and Su Shiyu were at best two insects—utterly not of the same order of being.

The bird’s cold, emotionless gaze swept over Zhang Fan, lingering only for the briefest moment before the crane suddenly threw back its head and cried, its wings beating to send gales roaring through the air…

Then, in an instant, it dove—a sonic boom splitting the ears.

Before everyone’s eyes, its talons seized Li Changgeng’s corpse and slowly lifted it into the sky.

Buzz—

At that moment, a milky white mist blossomed from Li Changgeng’s severed neck, and within that fog, scattered flesh and blood slowly gathered as one, coalescing inside the ivory mist, writhing where his neck was severed…

”This… What is…?”

Liu Xingtui’s cheek twitched, his hands clenching tightly, staring at the scene before him, scarcely able to believe his own eyes.

”Daoist Divine Techniques—Headless Regeneration!?”

The moment those words were spoken, everyone’s expression changed; even Zhang Fan arched a brow, his gaze sharpening to a razor’s edge.

”Li Changgeng… He actually awakened two Daoist Divine Techniques?”

”Impossible… Absolutely impossible…”

In everyone’s hearts, monstrous waves arose—this shock was even greater than seeing Li Changgeng die at Zhang Fan’s hand.

Daoist Divine Techniques are heaven’s gift; to awaken a single one is already a vast fortune, the blessing of the ancestors…

Even disciples as renowned as Qi Delong and Qi Dongqiang had never heard of anyone in the world able to awaken two Daoist Divine Techniques at once.

”A monster? Definitely inhuman.”

All were left unsettled, vaguely suspecting that this White Crane Temple heir was anything but ordinary—hiding secrets unknown to the world.

Rumble…

The white crane soared to the heavens, wings beating as it ascended; before everyone’s eyes, carrying Li Changgeng’s body, it vanished into the endless clouds.

”It’s gone…” murmured Liu Xingtui dazedly.

”Why didn’t it kill us?”

Liu Xingyu suddenly spoke, so saying.

The moment he spoke, everyone looked at him strangely, their gazes tinged with oddity.

”I… I’m just curious…” Liu Xingyu muttered, pouting slightly.

”It disdains to.”

Just then, a cold and clear voice carried over from the distance.

Everyone looked up, and saw a young man—athletic, in sportswear, white trainers on his feet, looking like just another hiker—approaching.

”Zhao Jie Xuan!?” Lin Jianyue’s elegant brows drew together as she looked at him, a complex emotion sweeping over her beautiful face; she had vaguely guessed the truth.

”Little Bunny, drop the act. You see it, right? I was one with him from the start.”

Zhao Jie Xuan pointed at Zhang Fan in the distance, a cold smile playing at his lips.

At those words, everyone felt an odd feeling stirring in their chests.

Such secrets weren’t for just anyone’s ears.

Yet Zhao Jie Xuan spoke it out openly and carelessly, as if he didn’t mind at all.

”Where did you pop up from?” Zhang Fan couldn’t help asking.

Just now, after their primordial spirits had split, the Evil God had vanished—he had no idea where Zhao Jie Xuan had hidden his own body.

”I stashed my body halfway up the mountain. If things turned sour, I’d have a way to escape.” Zhao Jie Xuan had already left himself a back door.

”...”

”You’re really pretty devious.” Zhang Fan couldn’t help but say.

”Not much point praising myself.” Zhao Jie Xuan grinned, his voice light.