Cultivation: Starting with Farming in the Spiritual Pivot Grotto

Chapter 69 The Spirit Tiger Battles the Yin Soldiers

As the Fallen Valley cultivators dispersed, they slowly surrounded the Beast Taming cultivators, and even Li Ya was surrounded.

Fortunately, the riverbed was thick with silt, just enough to bury him completely.

What puzzled him was why he was alone after being teleported in, while the other two groups of cultivators were still in pairs.

Li Ya completely suppressed his energy, closing all the pores on his body, and returned his true energy to the Imperial Palace without causing the slightest ripple.

There were thirteen Fallen Valley cultivators on the left bank, outnumbering the others. They were all dressed in dark gray robes, which was quite fitting for the occasion.

As the formation gradually unfolded, phantom figures emerged behind the Fallen Valley cultivators. These figures were clearly visible in the thick fog, mostly generals clad in armor, while others wore wedding robes and veils.

The surroundings suddenly became much colder. These phantoms were extremely active in the thick fog. The cultivators of Fallen Valley made hand seals, and the phantoms pounced forward and attached themselves to them.

"No wonder they're all like tuberculosis demons, accompanied by evil spirits, and constantly needing to be nourished by their own blood and qi. No wonder the Fallen Valley couldn't even defeat the Fragrance Sect's tea-selling gang."

Li Ya turned his eyes and looked at the five cultivators on the right bank.

Even when surrounded by more than twice the number of cultivators, they didn't seem particularly panicked. The leading cultivator simply threw out a bronze command arrow depicting two tigers fighting.

The command arrow suddenly split in two, from which two thick, almost tangible black mists surged forth. A muffled, oppressive tiger's roar echoed from the black mists, making eardrums tremble.

The next moment, two burly, jet-black beast figures leaped out from the center of the black mist and slammed heavily onto the ground!

They were two identical black tigers, both with the size of adult elephants, their limbs as thick as iron pillars, their skeletons broad, and their muscles bulging and taut.

"roar!"

Two tiger roars suddenly rang out again, deep and resonant like rolling thunder. At first, they were low and muffled, but they emanated from the depths of the black mist!

The cultivators of Fallen Valley immediately felt the fear emanating from the evil spirits on their bodies.

The tiger is a yang creature, the king of beasts. It can subdue and defeat the fierce, and devour ghosts and demons.

Not to mention the two black tigers with cultivation, some of the weaker cultivators from the Fallen Valley immediately withdrew their yin energy and became unresponsive to commands.

The other four cultivators also used their command arrows, and in an instant, four large tigers with piercing eyes and white foreheads appeared, guarding the black tiger's two wings.

"Hundreds of years ago, the Spirit Soul Immortal visited my Mountain Lord Temple. I never imagined that the Fallen Valley, which inherited most of his legacy, would now be nothing but a bunch of filthy corpse-playing ghosts."

Gu Jun chuckled lightly, his eyes full of disdain. He had already read the information about Fallen Valley; they were just a bunch of useless trash.

Instead of taking the proper path of rigorous self-cultivation, they are determined to take the shortcut of relying on evil spirits.

If one were to follow the proper path, absorbing the malevolent energy of evil spirits through Taoist magic, and then refining them through water, fire, and swamps to transform them into spirit officials and divine generals, then Gu Jun would admire that approach.

However, they all misinterpreted the lineage passed down from their ancestors, thinking of using their flesh and soul to refine the Yin entity first, and then refine it when their cultivation level was higher.

If you prioritize doing the easy tasks first and postpone the difficult ones to some distant future, how can you expect to be respected?

The senior disciple from the Fallen Valley, Si Jiuyou, had a livid face, but it quickly dissipated, and his tone became icy.

"So it was those street performers from the Sanjun Temple. Their words are so sharp; I wonder if their hand skills are just as sharp."

The founder of Shan Jun Temple was indeed originally a monkey performer in the marketplace. However, while traveling on a mountain road, he encountered a mother tiger in labor and on the verge of death, so he cut open her abdomen to retrieve her cubs.

Before she died, the tigress brought him a scroll of martial arts manual as a way of repaying his kindness. It was with this manual and the help of Elder Ling that he was able to establish the Mountain Lord Temple in the far west of the Southern Region.

"Hmph! Whether it's sharp or not, you'll find out once you try!"

"But are you spreading out in formation so you can escape later?"

The six spirit tigers, poised to pounce, raised their heads and roared in unison, charging towards the opposite bank.

The eldest disciple of the Fallen Valley took out a long banner, pricked his fingertip, and drew a complex talisman on the banner.

The other cultivators from Fallen Valley acted simultaneously, forming hand seals and chanting low, eerie incantations.

The chilling true energy surged forth, intertwining to form a temporary domain that isolated the surrounding mist.

"Form the formation! Sacrifice the soul and lock the yin!"

The long banner exhaled dense Yin energy, and one by one, Yin soldiers emerged from the banner, forming a military formation in a short time. The Yin energy gathered and condensed into a serpentine shape.

"Fellow disciples, the Soul Gathering Banner can only last for three incense sticks. You must defeat them within three incense sticks!"

Upon hearing this, the cultivators no longer held back, squeezing out all their true energy. Their hand seals flew faster and faster, and their incantations became more and more urgent and eerie.

The ghostly soldiers, their ferocity surging, charged toward the opposite bank.

The spirit tiger leaped out, its body surging with pure yang energy. The ghost soldiers crumbled upon it, their bodies instantly burning. Pure yang energy is the nemesis of yin beings, but it couldn't withstand the sheer number of ghost soldiers, and for a time, the battle was deadlocked.

The two groups of cultivators were also engaged in a fierce battle. Within this domain, the cultivators from Luopo Valley launched a fierce attack, outnumbering the enemy. Even though they could not match the Mountain Lord Temple in one-on-one combat, they still had a subtle but overwhelming advantage.

Of the hundreds of Yin soldiers, nearly half were quickly killed and turned into Yin energy.

Si Jiuyou continued to wave the Yin Banner, and the Yin soldiers he had killed poured out from the banner again.

"As long as my true energy is sufficient, and the souls of the Yin soldiers remain, no matter how many you kill, I can regenerate just as many!"

The ghostly soldiers' attacks were relentless and endless.

On the other hand, among the people at the Mountain Lord Temple, a tiger with piercing eyes and a white forehead was already trapped by the ghost soldiers, its body covered in wounds.

The master was extremely anxious, but he was attacked from both sides by the Fallen Valley cultivators and could not come to the rescue for the time being.

"Senior brother, if this continues, our situation will be dire!"

Gu Jun dispersed the Yin soldiers in front of him, his eyes fixed on Si Jiuyou, knowing the key to the matter.

"If it weren't for the Yin Banner connecting them, these Fallen Valley cultivators would be no threat."

"To catch the thief, you must first catch the king; we can't let this evil banner continue to cause trouble."

However, Si Jiuyou was also a cautious character, with two cultivators protecting him and dozens of Yin soldiers surrounding him.

"roar!"

The wounded spirit tiger let out a final mournful cry before collapsing to the ground, instantly becoming food for the ghost soldiers.

"Riding the wind!"

The spirit tiger's master's eyes widened in fury, and his movements slowed.

The Mountain Lord Temple's disciple recruitment is unlike any other sect; once a disciple enters the sect, they begin caring for the tigers in the mountains.

After obtaining the status of a disciple, one will be given a tiger cub. The cultivator and the tiger cub eat and live together and develop a deep bond.

"Now is the time!"

Si Jiuyou's eyes flashed with a sharp light, and he naturally wouldn't let this opportunity slip by, so he attacked with all his might without hesitation.

The ghostly soldiers that had been roaming around him rushed forward instantly, tearing through the air at breakneck speed, their ghostly claws sharp and fierce, grabbing at the cultivator who had revealed a weakness.

"Junior brother, be careful!"

Gu Jun cried out in alarm, his mind reeling. He activated his inner energy, and the spiritual light in his blade suddenly surged, repelling the cultivator in front of him.

With a flash, he held his sword across his shoulder and instantly stood in front of his junior brother.

"Sizzle!"

The pitch-black ghost claws collided violently with the spiritual light. Gu Jun's body trembled violently, and his blood and qi flowed backward. Without catching his breath, Gu Jun unleashed another fierce strike, repelling the ghost soldiers and the surrounding cultivators.

Li Ya lay quietly in the riverbed silt, taking in the entire carnage with a calm and composed mind.

He saw it very clearly; the Fallen Valley cultivator intended to wear down this nobody to death.

As for offering help, I have no such intention. Who can guarantee that if I help, the other party won't have other ideas about me?

Besides, the trials are meant to be a competition for cultivation resources, so there's no right or wrong involved.

Li Ya had no intention of reaping the benefits without doing so. Now that both sides were locked in fierce fighting and unable to concentrate, it was the perfect opportunity to sneak away.

The road ahead was blocked, so we had to turn back and find another way.

The next moment, a warning came from the Spiritual Pivot.

[There was an unusual ground tremor, suspected to be caused by a giant object crawling towards us.]