Chapter 222: War Hero
“Why are you here?” Elder Mu looked at the token and frowned unconsciously.
She clearly knew this group of guests.
However, from Elder Mu’s expression, it could be seen that she did not want to see this group of people.
“Aunt has been away from home for a hundred years. The elders in the clan miss you very much. I specially ordered me, your nephew, to visit and give you a bottle of peach blossom spiritual wine to express our goodwill.”
The youth in the lead looked gentle and elegant, but his words were always a little arrogant.
Moreover, he directly called Elder Mu aunt, and his tone and accent were very similar to Elder Mu’s. Perhaps they were from the same family.
“Hmph, would they be so kind? I’ve received the wine. You can leave now.”
After saying that, Elder Mu wanted to close the door, but the youth took half a step forward and reached out to block the door.
This young man who called Elder Mu aunt was not very old, but he was actually able to compete with Elder Mu, a Golden Core cultivator. It could be seen that his strength was quite extraordinary.
“Aunt, wait. I have two other small matters to talk about. Please listen first.”
His words seemed to be quite polite, but one could clearly sense an order from his words.
They had ill intentions!
…
Scripture Storage Valley, flying ship spaceport.
Several warships slowly stopped.
Jiang Li, Elder He and the others finally returned to the sect.
“Is that Senior Brother Jiang Li? Oh no! My heart suddenly beat so quickly!”
“I heard that Senior Brother Jiang has already successfully reached the Foundation Establishment realm after entering the sect for a year. That talent is worthy of being the number one among our generation’s disciples!”
“Your information is too outdated. What’s Foundation Establishment? I just heard that Senior Brother Jiang Li personally killed a Core Formation realm demonic cultivator in the battle of Benevolent Travel Temple and the Second Elder of the Hundred Tempering Mountain, Situ Tingxin!”
“What? How is this possible! Isn’t Senior Brother Jiang still at the Foundation Establishment realm? I heard that the Second Elder of the Hundred Tempering Mountain is a Nascent Soul cultivator.”
“This is news spread by the sect. How can it be fake?”
“Senior Brother Jiang Li could already fight Foundation Establishment cultivators when he was at the Qi Refinement realm. Now that he’s at the Foundation Establishment realm, what’s so strange about that?”
“This… this is too formidable. Who do you think is more formidable, Senior Brother Jiang Li and Senior Brother Chu Yunxuan?”
As soon as Jiang Li and the others got off the flying ship, the disciples who were working overtime at the spaceport to modify the warship looked over.
They had not arrived yet, but their deeds in Benevolent Travel Temple had already been sent back to the sect.
While the higher-ups of the sect were surprised by Jiang Li’s shocking growth speed, they took the opportunity to announce his achievements.
There was utterly no need to exaggerate. Jiang Li’s achievements could already shock everyone.
It was even to the extent that because the results were too exaggerated, it even drew the suspicion of some disciples and elders.
However, with the sect’s authority and reputation, the truth was still irrefutable.
Amidst a few voices of doubt, Jiang Li’s reputation soared, and he was practically on par with Chu Yunxuan among the current generation of disciples.
At first, Jiang Li was puzzled as to why the sect wanted to promote him so strongly. Later on, he thought about it and understood.
Now that it was wartime, an effective method to gather people’s hearts was to create an example and a hero.
Chu Yunxuan’s name had long been praised, so it could not achieve that effect.
On the other hand, Jiang Li just happened to have experienced a great battle with the enemy. Moreover, his accomplishments were extremely abundant, and he directly killed the Second Elder of the Hundred Tempering Mountain.
Jiang Li, who was the strongest among the new generation and had yet to be defeated, was a genius that perfectly met the criteria of being a war hero.
As soon as he got off the flying ship, he became the focus of all the disciples present.
After reaching the Foundation Establishment realm, Jiang Li’s image had also undergone a huge change. Coupled with the intentional adjustments of “Cocoon Break” several times and the long-term nourishment of “Golden Wind Jade Dew” and other statuses, the current Jiang Li was very handsome.
Apart from that, his eyes gave off a tough but ethereal feeling. There was also a trace of a mysterious Dao Essence aura on his body.
A young girl who was inexperienced in the ways of the world would understand what it meant to be in love when she saw him now.
When walking together with Jiang Li, his master and senior brother who were almost tied up like mummies were beautifully ignored.
As for Jiang Li, he had taken the time to use the Cocoon Break skill on the way. Even the burn scars on his body had completely healed.
Those who did not know would never think that he had just returned from a dangerous sect battle.
The way he acted so nonchalantly and calmly made people worship him even more.
Regarding this, Jiang Li silently decided that when he went out in the future, he would definitely activate the array formation and lock the door and windows.
Otherwise, it was very likely that there would be many senior sisters and junior sisters who would get lost in his small courtyard.
The journey back took two days.
As soon as they arrived, Elder He explained the situation that they encountered and directly entered the small courtyard of the Head Elder of the Rejuvenation Hall. He did not come out for a day and night.
It seemed that his master had been hit by Situ Fengzhu’s move and was also heavily injured.
Jiang Li did not look for Senior Sister Qi Yu. His injuries had already recovered before reaching the sect.
He did not return to the Demon Vanquishing Hall to continue cultivating either.
After disembarking, he directly walked towards the sect’s Mystic Gate Hall.
Speaking of the Mystic Gate Hall, it was the first place that Jiang Li came into contact with in the Scripture Storage Valley. Back then, he was also brought into the sect by Elder Weng Sanqi.
As a rogue cultivator alliance sect, the Scripture Storage Valley’s foundation in certain areas was not as rich as the other three sects.
However, their advantage was that they had countless talented individuals at the same time. There were people who were skilled in various fields. As for these cultivators with their own ‘techniques’, they formed the Mystic Gate Hall that knew everything.
The more common ones were mechanical puppets, stargazing, acupuncture points, parasitic poison, witch doctors, papercraft, hanging, etc.
Jiang Li had come here to look for Elder Weng Sanqi who he was quite familiar with.
Following the disciple of the Mystic Gate Hall, Jiang Li quickly arrived at the other party’s courtyard.
Originally, Elder Weng should have wanted to continue recruiting disciples in the Immortal Ascension Assembly. One was for the sake of the sect’s sustainable development, and the other was to make the Hundred Tempering Mountain let down their guard.
However, after the battle at Benevolent Travel Temple, the Hundred Tempering Mountain had completely exposed their ambitions. The battle was inevitable. In order to prevent the Hundred Tempering Mountain from attacking again, they had already returned that night.
They had almost reached at the same time as Jiang Li and the others.
He knocked on the door of the courtyard. Accompanied by the sound of a wooden wheel rolling, the door opened automatically.
In the courtyard, there were broken limbs and remains lying on the ground, but it did not look bloody.
That was because they were all parts of the wooden puppet.
Two figures were sitting casually on the ground, checking and maintaining these parts.
Apart from the short, gray-haired, and rosy-faced Elder Weng, there was also a beautiful female cultivator in a Daoist robe with her eyes closed.
Jiang Li looked at the female cultivator. She had an exquisite appearance and a slim figure. Her face had also been meticulously decorated, and her skin color looked much livelier than before.
However, her actions lacked the gentleness and beauty of a woman. Instead, they were similar to Elder Weng.
This female cultivator was none other than the Golden Core zombie demon who had fought with many sects in the Mother River!
“Elder Weng.”
Jiang Li cupped his hands. The other party raised his head and was quite enthusiastic.
After all, in the battle at Benevolent Travel Temple, Jiang Li did not hide in fear but directly killed a Core Formation cultivator.
Elder Weng was only at the Core Formation realm, and he might not even be as powerful as that Corpse Coffin’s male devil. In the cultivation world, strength was respected. With such an accomplishment, although Jiang Li was still at the Foundation Establishment realm, there were already few people who would look down on him.
Basically, in the Scripture Storage Valley, Jiang Li’s status was already slightly similar to Chu Yunxuan’s. The elders no longer judged him as a mere disciple.
“Haha, Jiang Li, why do you have the time to come to my place?”
“This place is a little messy. Don’t stand on ceremony and sit anywhere.”
Elder Weng Sanqi waved his hand, and a puppet automatically pieced together and deformed. In a short period of time, it formed a slightly strange chair.
Jiang Li looked at the chair used to use the wooden puppet’s head as a cushion and really did not have the desire to sit down.
“Elder Weng, I actually have a favor to ask.”
Jiang Li directly stated his purpose for coming.
“Oh? Speak. If there’s anything I can help with, feel free to ask.”
Elder Weng’s attitude had changed drastically compared to before. He no longer put on airs as an elder.
“This disciple wants to borrow this zombie demon puppet.”
Jiang Li turned around and looked at the female cultivator puppet standing at the side.
He had come for her.
“You want her? Why?”
Although the power of this puppet made from a Golden Core zombie demon was greatly reduced without the core Zombie Core, it was still Elder Weng’s trump card puppet.
During this period of time, Elder Weng Sanqi practically hugged this puppet to sleep every day. When he drank, as long as he looked at his masterpiece, he could even save on snacks.
He was naturally unwilling to lend it to others.
“Elder Weng, you should know that my cultivation method is special. Right now, I’m at a critical moment in my cultivation and need some pure corpse qi to assist in my cultivation.”
“Elder, don’t worry. I’ll only use this puppet for a day. This is a token of my appreciation.”
Jiang Li made up a reason, and then he took out a small coffin and handed it over.
The coffin contained the lower half of the female devil.
The upper half of the demonic cultivator’s body had been beaten into mush by Jiang Li and Senior Brother Xiang, but the lower half was still intact.
As for the Golden Core zombie demon, it had lost its lower body in the Mother River. Now, it could only be replaced with puppet parts. However, if it could stitch up the body of a Core Formation cultivator, it would definitely be able to make this puppet stronger.
Elder Weng opened the coffin and took a look. He was a little tempted. Although he was still a little unwilling, he agreed in the end.
Jiang Li obtained the zombie demon puppet as he wished and directly returned to his residence in the Demon Vanquishing Hall. After that, he plunged into the Yin Burial Coffin.
The reason why he wanted to obtain this Golden Core zombie was because of the words left behind by the Corpse Coffin’s male devil before he died.
“Mi… Miss… In the end… this old servant… still couldn’t find you…”
This pair of demonic cultivators clearly had some life stories.
Jiang Li was a little curious about this “Miss”. After obtaining his True Core, he directly used a black talisman to seal the soul that had yet to float out.
After killing the Corpse Coffin’s male devil and another Core Formation cultivator, the spoils of war were divided equally. He specially picked out the female devil’s True Core.
Then, Jiang Li handed these two True Cores to the Nine Nether clone.
With the methods of the Spiritual Root Nine Nether Wood, how could the two ghosts be its match?
Many memories were directly dug out by the Nine Nether clone. However, a portion of the memories seemed to be especially important. They were sealed with special methods. If one forcefully read them, their entire soul would collapse.
If he wanted to obtain the contents of this memory, Jiang Li could only guide them to speak it themselves.
In the memories that he searched, he saw a familiar face. Wasn’t it the Golden Core zombie demon that dominated the entire battlefield during the battle of the Mother River?
After all, the sword cultivator clone had died in her mouth. His memories of this face were very clear.
As for her, she was the young lady that the male devil had mentioned!
The zombie demon that had already been turned into a zombie and its body was filled with all kinds of puppet mechanisms could not be the target of the Bodhisattva Heart Sutra.
Jiang Li called Qin Shuman over and let her possess the zombie body. After familiarizing herself with it a few times, he took out the two True Cores.
After tearing apart the black talisman paper, Jiang Li retreated to the shadows.
Then, two traces of black qi slowly emerged from the True Cores. Gradually, they formed two transparent souls in the air.
Under the ‘Soul Torment’ of the Yin Burial Coffin, the two ghosts became very weak.
However, in the Yin Burial Coffin that was filled with dense Yin qi, the soul body that was nourished quickly recovered. It did not take long for the two souls to recover their clarity and start to look around.
When Jiang Li saw that they had woken up, he controlled the spider lilies on the ground to emit a dense fragrance, causing them to be unable to think rationally.
Under such circumstances, these two souls would be easier to deceive.
“Is this… the Netherworld?”
“So there really is a Netherworld. There are so many spider lilies. What a beautiful place.”
“My wife, we’ve really gone to the afterlife together this time.”
In the Yin Burial Coffin was the corpse of an Asura, the inverted Nine Nether Wood, and various miscellaneous items that Jiang Li had piled up in the corner. It was even to the extent that Rayquaza was coiled not far away and sleeping!
If they were awake, they would definitely notice something amiss and be wary.
However, under the influence of the spider lilies, these two souls did not feel any difference. After confirming that the two of them had died, they assumed that this was the Netherworld.
Then, a fog floated past, and the zombie demon puppet appeared in front of them.
When the Twin Devils saw the zombie demon puppet’s face, they were stunned for a moment before joy surged.
“This is… Oh Old Master in heaven, look! This is Miss! It’s Miss!”
“My wife, did you see that? We finally found Miss!”
“This old servant, Shou San, greets Miss!”
“This old servant, Gui Ma, greets Miss!”
Although the two souls liked to skin people alive and were sinful, they were still loyal and remembered their master’s daughter even after death.
“Get up. The sect has already been destroyed. Why don’t you find a cave abode to live in?”
Jiang Li did not know the past of the zombie demon and the two evil spirits. He did not even know the original name of the Golden Core zombie demon.
However, from the memories dug up by the Nine Nether clone, they should be from a sect that had been destroyed a long time ago.
Therefore, he used ambiguous words to trick the other party.
“This old servant doesn’t dare! This old servant doesn’t dare! I am your servant for the rest of my life!”
“Before our Old Master died, he handed the sect’s item to me and my wife. He instructed us to definitely find Miss and hand that item to you.”
“What a pity! What a pity! To think that we would all meet in this Netherworld!”