Cultivation Starting from Choosing Augments

Chapter 283 - 168: This Isn’t What We Agreed On Before I Came

Having read many ancient texts, Xiao Chen naturally understood these basic terms.

The key, however, was the description that followed—"transforming Evil Qi into lightning"—which made him curious about what kind of technique that could be.

It seemed to be a way of directly attacking enemies with Evil Qi.

Here in the Southern Domain, no one had ever been able to do that.

Whether it was the Demon Sect creating Demonic Calamities or Xiao Chen’s own practice of the *Mystic Sky Eating Secret Technique*, they all counted as indirect uses of Evil Qi.

But the problem was that this book, *Southern Domain Strange Tales*, was as concise as could be. It only contained this brief entry, leaving no further clues.

To find a detailed record, he would probably have to go to Haozhou and search there.

This brought him back to the original problem: Xiao Chen couldn’t leave Hezhou.

’That just goes to show, the Divine Fire Sect really deserves to die.’

’He had clearly found two clues related to Evil Qi and should have been happily on his way to collect it.’

’But thanks to the Divine Fire Sect, he couldn’t make any progress.’

’The day I form my Golden Core, I will hunt down and kill every last one of those bastards from the Divine Fire Sect.’

’Otherwise, this burning hatred in my heart will never be sated.’

But the current problem was that he’d finished with the ancient texts and still had nothing to show for it.

Xiao Chen was reluctant to leave empty-handed. After some careful thought, he looked toward the Child waiting nearby.

"Could you bring me some records on Demonic Calamities?"

.

’Since I can’t find any currently usable clues in the ancient texts, I’ll have to fall back on my old methods.’

’I’ll see if I can find any records of local Evil Qi from past Demonic Calamities.’

"Certainly. Please wait a moment."

Soon, the Child ran back and forth a dozen or so times, bringing Xiao Chen a large new pile of scrolls.

Perhaps due to its long history, the Lingyuan Sect was indeed far more thorough in preserving relevant information than the Li Huo Sect.

After a careful search, Xiao Chen actually managed to find three fairly specific locations.

They were: the heart of the northern Ten Thousand Demons Mountain Range, the depths of the Yellow Springs Palace Secret Realm, and the Earth Vein that had belonged to the Jiuhua Sect.

All three of these places had once nurtured Evil Qi, which was subsequently collected by Demon Cultivators to slaughter the masses.

However, the heart of the Ten Thousand Demons Mountain Range was no simple place.

Ordinarily, cultivators considered a place like the Blood Plague Secret Realm to be the depths of the mountain range.

The truth was, this was partly because it was indeed very far away.

But it was also because venturing any deeper drastically increased the chances of encountering Golden Core-level Demon Beasts. Aside from Golden Core True Men willing to take the risk, no one else dared to venture so deep.

But in the context of the entire Ten Thousand Demons Mountain Range, that was merely the outer region.

As a massive chain of mountains that nearly cut off the Central Domain from the Southern Domain, its length and breadth were staggering.

In short, venturing deep into the central region was an incredibly dangerous affair.

Aside from reckless Demon Cultivators with a death wish, it was best for anyone normal to stay far away.

As for the next possibility, the Yellow Springs Palace Secret Realm, there was a major problem.

This place was a relic left by the Yellow Springs Dao. Other than the rumors that it contained a wealth of Demonic Inheritances and was extremely dangerous, almost no one knew when it opened. There were even several conflicting accounts regarding the location of the Secret Realm’s entrance.

Some said the entrance was in Hezhou, others claimed it was in Quanzhou, and still others believed the Secret Realm had long been destroyed and was impossible to enter.

Xiao Chen figured he couldn’t count on this one.

That left only the final location: the Jiuhua Sect’s Earth Vein.

’Now a new question arose: is there a place called the Jiuhua Sect in Hezhou?’

Xiao Chen went back, found another ancient text, and examined an old map.

Fortunately, he made swift progress this time. He soon discovered that the former location of the Jiuhua Sect was now the site of the Cyan Cloud Sect.

About thirty thousand years ago, the Jiuhua Sect had splintered into several minor sects, all of which eventually vanished into the annals of history.

And that original Earth Vein was located right next to the Cyan Cloud Sect’s current Main Spirit Vein.

Frankly, getting into a place like that would also be quite difficult.

This was especially true since Xiao Chen wasn’t a disciple of the Cyan Cloud Sect and had no connections there.

But compared to the other two options, this one was far more promising.

At the very least, he now had a clear course of action.

He let out a long breath.

The tension inside him finally eased.

Fortunately, the Lingyuan Sect had an abundance of scrolls recording Demonic Calamities, and their contents were relatively clear. His trip to the Scripture Pavilion hadn’t been in vain.

All in all, he had gained quite a lot today.

Even the clues he couldn’t use right now weren’t entirely worthless. There would surely be an opportunity to use them in the future.

Seeing it was already approaching midnight...

Xiao Chen didn’t linger and chose to return to his temporary residence.

’Next, I need to find out how to get permission to enter the Cyan Cloud Sect’s Spirit Vein.’

’And I’d better have a suitable reason—a pretext that won’t reveal my true intentions.’

’What do I have to do now?’

Before going to sleep, Xiao Chen reviewed his plans.

’I have four things to take care of at the moment. Fortunately, none of them are huge tasks.’

’First, help the Wei Family with their mediation and acquire the rest of the brewed Yichuan Red.’

’Second, send the surplus Spiritual Objects to the auction at Xianghe Market, though I don’t necessarily have to go in person.’

’Third, take the remaining items that can’t be sold openly and dispose of them at the Lion Head Cave Black Market.’

’Wei Qixian can act as one sponsor, and it shouldn’t be hard to have him find another.’

’And finally, there’s the "Riding the Clouds on Li Mountain" event at the end of the month, where I’ll compete for the Flowing Cloud Dew.’

’None of these tasks are particularly complicated. I estimate I should still be able to squeeze in plenty of time for cultivation.’