Seeking Immortality

"Four Taoist friends ahead, please stay."

Just as Xu Qingfan saw more than ten cultivators, a gentle voice suddenly came.

And the person who spoke this voice spoke first when Xu Qingfan noticed them, proving that the person who spoke this voice was still stronger than Xu Qingfan. Although the person's voice was clear and he did not look like a cultivator who had lost his mind because of the beast madness, Xu Qingfan could not help but be alert when such a master suddenly approached him during this catastrophe.

But someone called him, so Xu Qingfan could not ignore it, so he stopped the cloud and stayed in the sky waiting for the person who spoke this voice to dare to come. It happened that Xu Qingfan also wanted to ask the immortal about the situation in the immortal world in recent years.

Although the voice of this person reached the ears of Xu Qingfan and others, the person who came was still dozens of miles away, but the cultivation of these more than ten cultivators was extremely high, and they came to Xu Qingfan in just a moment.

I saw that the ten or so people, at least, had the cultivation level of the Lingji period, and the top three were at the Jindan period. The leader was a middle-aged scholar with good manners, whose cultivation level was slightly higher than Xu Qingfan, and had reached the peak of the Shidan period.

"I am Hu Guangshan, the guardian of the Five Elements Sect. I am honored to meet you." After the middle-aged scholar with the highest cultivation level, Hu Guangshan, the guardian of the "Five Elements Sect", came to Xu Qingfan, he first looked at Xu Qingfan a few times, with a look of doubt in his eyes, and then bowed to Xu Qingfan and said, "I don't know where you are cultivating immortals, but I seem to have met you. When I saw your face, I felt that you looked familiar."

This person spoke in a gentle manner, which made people feel good about him. But his expression was too gloomy, and he seemed too scheming. But people dared not get close to him.

What made Xu Qingfan strange was that, except for Hu Guangshan, the other cultivators were staring at the four of them, with a look of vigilance in their eyes. It seemed that they would fight if they disagreed.

And although these dozen people had good cultivation, their faces were full of extremely strong fatigue, their clothes were in disarray, and they seemed to have not rested for a long time.

When Xu Qingfan was looking at this group of people, this group of people were also looking at Xu Qingfan and his group, but there were quite a few disciples of the Spiritual Silence Period who were not firm in their hearts. As soon as they came in front of Xu Qingfan, they stared at Ting'er and Zhang Ningmei blankly, with a look of amazement and intoxication in their eyes.

Seeing such impolite behavior, Xu Qingfan couldn't help but frowned slightly. Although the performance of those mortals when they were asking for information in the town before was much worse than these people, those mortals did not understand Xu Qingfan's identity, and their hearts were not firm, so it was understandable. But these cultivators clearly saw Xu Qingfan present and still acted like this, no wonder Xu Qingfan was so angry.

Speaking of which, before they knew it, Zhang Ningmei and Ting'er had both grown into rare beauties in the world. The weak little girl Zhang Ningmei was now as beautiful as Ting'er, and her quiet temperament contained amazing intellectual beauty. It was fascinating. Not to mention Ting'er's mysterious and cold temptation. Even in Jiuhua Mountain, since the Jiuhua Sect's internal competition, there are still many Jiuhua disciples who are obsessed with Ting'er.

Although everyone has admiration, seeing the intoxicated and amazing eyes in these people's eyes, and thinking of the crazy performance of some Jiuhua disciples before, Xu Qingfan couldn't help but shook his head slightly in anger. This kind of attitude. It can only be said that the heart is not strong. If it can't be overcome. The highest achievement of these people in their lives is only the spiritual silence period.

Generally speaking, only one out of a hundred immortals can reach the Jindan stage. In Xu Qingfan's opinion, aptitude is part of the reason, but the more important reason is character. Insufficient aptitude can be supplemented by elixirs, skills, diligence, etc., but if the character is not strong, no one can help except relying on oneself to overcome it.

Hu Guangshan is also a very flexible person. After finding that Xu Qingfan did not answer his question, but looked at the disciples behind him and frowned and shook his head slightly, he first looked behind him in confusion following Xu Qingfan's gaze. After noticing the strange eyes of those disciples, he immediately knew Xu Qingfan's thoughts, and immediately snorted at those disciples who were staring at Ting'er and Zhang Ningmei. These disciples trembled suddenly, looked at Hu Guangshan in fear, and then immediately lowered their heads and never dared to raise them again.

"I am not strict in discipline, and I made this fellow Taoist laugh. Hu Guangshan bowed to Xu Qingfan and said apologetically.

"Nothing. "Xu Qingfan responded with a smile. However, the disciples' horrified attitude changed their view of Hu Guangshan. They didn't expect that Hu Guangshan, who seemed gentle, could make these disciples so awed. It seems that he should be a very resourceful person in normal times.

"My fellow Taoist, you haven't answered my senior brother Hu's question yet."

Just as Xu Qingfan was thinking secretly, a blue-robed cultivator behind Hu Guangshan said coldly. Since Xu Qingfan just shook his head and frowned, with the intention of blaming Hu Guangshan's disciples, the cultivator looked at Xu Qingfan with a hint of hostility in addition to vigilance.

Xu Qingfan thought about it for a while, and immediately understood the reason why the blue-robed cultivator suddenly felt hostile. In the world of cultivating immortals, no matter how unpromising the disciples were, they would not allow others to accuse them. Xu Qingfan's frown and shaking of his head inadvertently violated the taboo.

Xu Qingfan first smiled apologetically at Hu Guangshan, and then said: "Xu Qingfan, the deacon elder of Jiuhua Mountain, has met fellow Taoist Hu. But I don't know what to call these two fellow Taoists?"

As he said that, Xu Qingfan looked at the blue-robed monk and the old man in white behind Hu Guangshan.

Not announcing the birth of Jiuhua Mountain for the time being, but just secretly exploring the world of immortality, is just what Xu Qingfan and Zhang Hualing said to the other elders. In fact, the two of them had secretly decided that as soon as Jiuhua came out of the mountain, he would join the Righteous Alliance. Seeking shelter in the catastrophe, Xu Qingfan's main purpose of going down the mountain this time was to discuss joining matters with the Righteous Alliance.

I passed through thousands of miles of desolation before. Xu Qingfan was still worried whether the Righteous Alliance had been wiped out in the catastrophe, but now that he saw that except for those ten thousand miles, everything else in the vast land of China was normal, and from the fact that other mortals did not know about it, Xu Qingfan judged that this "beast madness" was just an appearance. Soon, so the Righteous Alliance should be fine.

In addition, the group of monks in front of him are all disciples of the "Five Elements Sect", and the "Five Elements Sect" is one of the important components of the Righteous Alliance, so Xu Qingfan did not conceal his identity.

No surprises. Hearing Xu Qingfan's words, Hu Guangshan and the other three were shocked. The monk in blue asked in shock: "Are you really Jiuhua's deacon and protector? Is Jiuhua finally reborn?"

Compared with the impatient monk in blue, Hu Guangshan was much more organized. He first glared at the monk in blue, then looked at Xu Qingfan with a look of surprise in his eyes, then raised his hands and smiled at Xu Qingfan: "So it's Fellow Daoist Xu. I asked why I felt so friendly after seeing Fellow Daoist. During the competition for newcomers in the world of immortality seventy years ago, I met Fellow Daoist from a distance, but I never expected that Fellow Daoist was so good. So diligent."

Hu Guangshan said this, but it was equivalent to recognizing Xu Qingfan's identity as a Jiuhua disciple, and gently passed on the unreasonable questioning by the monk in blue just now.

Even though he said this, Hu Guangshan looked at Xu Qingfan in front of him with sighs and surprises in his heart. When the newcomers competed, Xu Qingfan was only a monk in the early stage of Lingji, but now he is almost the same as him. Far away. After Xu Qingfan's cultivation greatly increased, his temperament also changed greatly. So much so that Hu Guangshan didn't think of it before.

But this kind of exclamation and surprise was only brewing in my heart, but it didn't show it on the face at all. After a polite word with Xu Qingfan. Hu Guangshan pointed to the old man who had been silent and introduced: "This is my second junior brother Li Liming." Then he pointed to the monk in blue and said: "This is my third junior brother Jiang Tao. His temper has always been A little impatient, but it made fellow Taoists laugh. "

Xu Qingfan looked at Hu Guangshan's methodical style of doing things, admired in his heart, and said with a smile: "It doesn't matter."

Hu Guangshan asked: "But I don't know when Jiuhua was born? Is this Taoist fellow Jiuhua also?"

The Taoist friend in Hu Guangshan's mouth was Ting'er, and Ting'er's cultivation during the alchemy period also attracted his attention.

Xu Qingfan explained: "I, Jiuhua, was reborn ten days ago. I came down the mountain this time to explore the current situation in the world of immortality. As for this person, they are my disciples Ting'er, Zhang Ningmei and Bai Yu."

Under the instructions of Xu Qingfan. Ting'er, Zhang Ningmei, and Bai Yu all walked up to Hu Guangshan and others and said hello respectfully. Holding the ceremony of descendants made Hu Guangshan sigh with emotion. Unexpectedly, not only did Xu Qingfan's cultivation grow so fast, but his disciples had already reached the stage of forming pills. Thinking about his own cultivation progress over the years and the crazy performance of his disciples just now, Hu Guangshan couldn't help but wonder whether he was useless.

But after knowing that Ting'er was Xu Qingfan's disciple, whether it was Hu Guangshan, Li Liming, or Jiang Tao, they all looked at Xu Qingfan with a little more respect. You must know that in the world of immortality, it is very difficult to train a disciple at the core formation stage. However, the difficulty is not at all inferior to its own pill formation.

The trouble in Hu Guangshan's heart just flashed away, but he immediately returned to normal again. Although Ting'er was his junior, he still greeted Ting'er politely, and then under Xu Qingfan's inquiry, he began to ask Xu Qingfan again. He talked about various changes in the world of immortality in recent years.

Putting aside what Xu Qingfan knew before, four years after Xu Qingfan returned to the mountain, a catastrophe that occurred once every 2,800 years in the world of immortality finally began. It was instigated by the "Bahuang Palace" first and took advantage of a large number of sects to flee to the "Ronghua Mountain". "When they were nearby, they invaded the prosperous middle-earth on a large scale and annexed many sects one after another. And the "Eight Desolate Palace" didn't know what kind of methods it had. Every monk captured by the "Eight Desolate Palace" would increase in strength not long after. , has various magical powers, and has changed his beliefs and is loyal to the "Bahuang Palace". Although the Righteous Alliance tried its best to suppress it, if one person from the "Bahuang Palace" was killed, the "Bahuang Palace" would capture two other monks to join them. They would kill them without realizing it, and they would be unable to suppress them. For a moment, relying on such means, The Righteous Alliance was actually helpless against them, and both sides suffered heavy casualties during the fight.

But for some reason recently, the "Eight Desolate Palace" methods suddenly failed. Under the strong suppression of the Righteous Alliance, there are fewer and fewer monks in the door, and they are about to be unable to resist. Hu Guangshan and his group were ordered by the masters of the Righteous Alliance to raid a stronghold in the "Bahuang Palace" and returned.

Hearing Hu Guangshan's introduction, Xu Qingfan frowned slightly, but he didn't expect that it was the "Bahuang Palace" that caused the catastrophe, and he couldn't figure out how the "Bahuang Palace" could be arrested by them. The monks were loyal to them, and they didn't understand why this method suddenly failed.

But Xu Qingfan felt that this catastrophe would definitely not be as simple as the "Bahuang Palace". Especially those monks infected with "beast madness" that I encountered before...

Thinking of this, Xu Qingfan frowned and asked Hu Guangshan: "Do you know what is happening three thousand miles to the south?"

Hearing what Xu Qingfan said, Hu Guangshan's expression became heavy, and he slowly asked, "Did Fellow Taoist refer to beastiality?"

Xu Qingfan nodded gently.

Hu Guangshan sighed: "The reason why I haven't returned to Ronghua Mountain yet is precisely because of this incident. This time, under the instructions of my seniors, I removed the remnants of the Eight Desolate Palaces entangled in a barren mountain. Returning to the mountain to report back to the seniors. But on the way back to the mountain, I suddenly found that several villages and towns had been massacred, and I, the righteous monks who were patrolling there, suddenly disappeared. In order to prevent the irrational monks from harming more innocent people, I have no choice but to ask a junior brother to rush back to Ronghua Mountain to report the situation here to the masters. I'm here to stay. I've been running around here and there for the past two days, fighting against those irrational monks. It's been really embarrassing. In the past few days, a total of one junior brother and eleven of my disciples have died due to the beast madness."

As he said that, Hu Guangshan showed a sad look on his face.

After a pause. Hu Guangshan calmed down the emotions on his face and said: "Until today, the Taoist friends sent by the seniors to support finally arrived. This gave me some breathing space. Just when I wanted to go back to the mountain to practice, I suddenly encountered a Taoist friend. Friend, out of curiosity, I said hello to my fellow Taoist."

Hearing what Hu Guangshan said, Xu Qingfan comforted Hu Guangshan, while frowning slightly, but he thought of a lot in his heart instantly.

Many things in the world seem to be coincidences. But it must have its inevitability. And this so-called ground necessity is also the key to the matter. This is one of the principles Zhang Hualing taught Xu Qingfan back then, and Xu Qingfan has always kept it in mind.

The sudden appearance of "Beast Madness". Especially when the "Bahuang Palace" is about to lose its support, it seems extremely strange.

"Do you have any doubts, fellow Taoist?" Hu Guangshan asked, seeing Xu Qingfan's frowning expression.

Hearing Hu Guangshan's question, Xu Qingfan smiled and said: "Fellow Daoist Hu suddenly called my four masters and disciples this time. I'm afraid it was not out of curiosity, but because he saw that my masters and disciples were passing by the place where beasts were raging, and he was afraid that we would wait for them." You have been infected by animal madness, so you stopped me from waiting for the inspection, right?"

Hearing Xu Qingfan's direct question, Hu Guangshan didn't show the slightest embarrassment on his face. He just smiled and said, "But I believe that with Xu Qingfan's cultivation, he will definitely not be affected by beast madness."

Xu Qingfan nodded slightly, unable to comment, but after pondering for a while, he suddenly asked: "But I don't know if this beastly madness only appeared in the place where fellow Taoist showed up, or did it also appear in other places?"

Hearing Xu Qingfan's question, Hu Guangshan's expression became more solemn, and he explained: "We haven't returned to the mountain yet, so we don't know much about these things, but according to what the fellow Taoists who were sent to meet us said, It’s not just their team, there must be beast madness in other places as well.”

Xu Qingfan sighed slowly and whispered to himself: "Beast madmen suddenly appeared all over the vast land of China in such a short period of time, and thus restrained a large number of people from the Righteous Alliance. It seems that someone did not want Bahuang Palace to be like this. was wiped out by the Righteous Alliance. Hu Guangshan's eyes flashed with admiration, and he nodded and said: "What fellow Taoist said is exactly what I thought. It seems that people from the Bahuang Palace or the Netherworld Organization found the infected beast. Crazy monk's corpse, and then spread it throughout the vast land of China. However, I have experience in dealing with beast madness. As long as the monks infected by beast madness are brought together and imprisoned, they will naturally kill each other, but the plans of those who are thoughtful will fail. "

Hearing what Hu Guangshan said, Xu Qingfan nodded slightly, but he was not so optimistic in his heart. Since some people want to prolong this catastrophe, there will naturally be other means after the failure of the beast madness. The enemy is in the dark and we are in the open, and there is no Take the initiative, and in the end the Righteous Alliance may have to run out of steam due to successive changes. Even if the other party continues to spread beast madness throughout the vast land of China, it will be enough to prolong this catastrophe indefinitely. The only good thing is that so far, beast madness can only be spread among cultivators. At this time, most of the cultivators in the world are concentrated in Ronghua Mountain, so the harm of beast madness has been reduced to the greatest extent.

Thinking of this, Xu Qingfan suddenly remembered something and suddenly asked: "When I passed through the area where beast madness was raging just now, I fought with a group of monks infected by beast madness. I think those monks are not strong though they are strong. , but his Taoism and Dharma cultivation are all orthodox, but I don’t know which sect he is a monk from.”

Hu Guangshan said sadly: "In the fight some time ago, there was a monk I met. He was the protector of a small sect. When the catastrophe was approaching, he went into hiding with his sect, and since then I have lost news of him. However, I didn’t expect that when we met again, he would look like a crazy beast. I guess the same is true for other monks.”

Hearing what Hu Guangshan said, Xu Qingfan also had a sad expression. Inferring from this, in order to spread the beast madness and continue the catastrophe, most of the monks of the sect who had been reclusive before the catastrophe had been captured by Ming or Bahuang Palace. Although these monks and sects do not have a high status in the world of immortality, they are numerous in number. The world of immortality is really seriously weakened this time.

After Xu Qingfan sighed silently, he asked Hu Guangshan some changes in the world of immortality over the years, and then said goodbye.

"Now that the catastrophe is coming, my disciples are worried about the situation at home. As the master, I have to accompany them. Fellow Taoists, I, the master and the disciples, must take leave now."

Hu Guangshan smiled and said: "The reason why our Righteous Alliance was established is to resist the damage caused by the catastrophe. Fellow Daoist Xu is going down the mountain to explore on behalf of the Jiuhua lineage. You can go back to Ronghua Mountain with us to meet the seniors on the mountain. , This will also prepare us for future cooperation.”

Xu Qingfan smiled and said: "My master and disciple in Ronghua Mountain will naturally go on behalf of Jiuhua, but first they have to visit the homes of my disciples, meet the clan members, and ask fellow Taoists for their forgiveness." But right here. At this moment, the old man in white, Li Liming, who had been silent all the time, suddenly said coldly: "I advise fellow Taoist to come back to Ronghua Mountain and live with me for seven days. After seven days, we will naturally let you do whatever you want." Leave."

After hearing what Li Liming said, Xu Qingfan finally understood what Hu Guangshan and others were thinking. After Xiuxian was infected with beast madness, the time of the operation was exactly seven days later. It seemed that although Hu Guangshan said he was relieved, he was actually still worried about himself and others.

At the same time, Jiang Tao had silently blocked the retreat of Xu Qingfan and others.