咔嚓!

Like a thunderbolt across a clear sky, the loud noise startled all the birds and beasts in the mountains.

In the mountain forest, small beasts with nascent intelligence fearfully looked up, only to see two figures streaking across the sky like lightning.

They were so fast that each step was accompanied by a thunderous roar, and the rolling *gang* winds and air currents rustled through the mountain vegetation.

"Outrageous! Utterly outrageous!"

A burly man with a thick beard suddenly stopped, and with a backhand, he sent out a palm strike. Mighty *fa li* surged forth, shattering the rolling air currents and slamming heavily towards the shadowy figure like a mountain:

"How can we cultivators serve others like hawks and hounds?! Zhou Yuan, you are a disgrace to us all!"

Rumble!

A loud noise.

The boiling *fa li* dissipated, and the black shadow's momentum came to a halt.

"Hmph!"

With a flick of his sleeve, a gaunt-faced middle-aged man stepped forward, coldly sweeping his gaze over the burly man, and said indifferently, "What cultivators? We are Qi Refiners!"

"Qi Refiners? Body Refiners, more like?"

The burly man spoke with disdain, but in reality, his eyes were full of apprehension, and his heart was filled with fear and bitterness.

Seven hundred years was not a short time, even for cultivators. However, compared to the long history of the various Daoist traditions, it was not worth mentioning.

Not to mention the gods, Buddhas, and the Six Paths, the Confucian school alone had a history of seventy thousand years.

But even with the constant emergence of Confucian talents, it still could not compare with the gods, Buddhas, and other Daos.

Therefore, no one cared about the so-called 'New Cultivation Method' promoted by the Great Zhou Imperial Dynasty, and most cultivators simply regarded it as a joke.

But no one expected that in just seven hundred years, the New Cultivation Method had replaced Confucianism as the orthodoxy of the Great Zhou, and even, in a true sense, shaken the foundations of the Daoist and Buddhist schools.

The name Qi Refiner caused a sensation in the cultivation world as soon as it appeared, drawing the attention of the Great Zhou, and even the entire Nanzhan.

The *Qi Dao* was beyond everyone's imagination.

Just like the man in front of him, whose third-level Qi Refining cultivation was nothing special in the current Jing Ye Si (Night Watchers), he had already mastered three great supernatural powers!

Even more terrifying was that this new cultivation, called Qi Refining, was actually based on body refining.

"To tell you the truth, I also think Body Refiner is more appropriate than Qi Refiner. But alas, this is the Daoist path passed down by the Yuanyang Emperor, and the name cannot be changed."

The middle-aged man did not seem to be in a hurry to attack. He smiled faintly and said, "Zhou is very curious, what gave you the courage to spread unorthodox teachings in Haizhou..."

Over the past seven hundred years, the New Cultivation Method had spread throughout the Great Zhou, and people from the other two great dynasties, and even other continents, had come to seek the Dao.

To this day, he could not remember how long it had been since the Jing Ye Si had received a similar case.

"Unorthodox?!"

The burly man's expression darkened, and before he could speak, a voice filled with barely suppressed anger rang out in their ears.

Hearing this, both men's expressions changed. The burly man's face lit up with joy, while Zhou Yuan's expression sank, and he looked warily in the direction of the voice.

Da!

Da da!

Light and rhythmic footsteps sounded like drumbeats.

At the head was an old Daoist with a fluttering robe and an air of immortality. Behind him, two rows of people were lined up, and at a glance, there were no fewer than twenty.

So many people appeared in the sky like ghosts, and the formations used by the Jing Ye Si to monitor Haizhou were not triggered at all.

Dong!

Dong dong!

Each step was like a drumbeat, and the sound of footsteps echoed in his heart.

"You..."

Zhou Yuan's pupils shrank, and a huge wave rose in his heart: "Daoists!"

Daoists!

Under the heavens, from ancient times to the present, there was one and only one sect that dared to use the name of Dao.

Dongsheng, the Daoist sect!

A man's reputation, a tree's shadow.

For any cultivator, the Dongsheng Daoist sect was an insurmountable mountain.

Legend had it that even the Brahma Saint had only opened up the Mount Sumeru Holy Land after discussing the Dao with the Nine Daoist Venerables.

The Daoist sect was the most ancient, the original sect!

"It has only been thirty thousand years since we walked the earth, but I never thought that my Daoist family would have become an 'unorthodox' sect in this Nanzhan. I am truly ashamed of the past masters of my Daoist family."

From a distance of a thousand miles, the old Daoist stopped, stroking his three-foot-long white beard with one hand and holding a floating whisk with the other, sighing softly, as if with emotion.

"Master, we disciples are incompetent!"

The old Daoist sighed, and the dozens of Daoists behind him all changed their expressions.

Thirty thousand years?!

Zhou Yuan was horrified.

While Qi Refiners had certain advantages over the old cultivation methods, that was only limited to those of the same level.

With his third-level Qi Refining cultivation, he could move freely against cultivators below the sixth level of the Golden Core stage, but he might not be able to escape against great cultivators above the sixth level.

The Golden Core stage had a long lifespan, but no matter how long it was, it could not reach thirty thousand years!

This old Daoist was probably a great cultivator above the Primordial Spirit stage. Perhaps only a Lian Shen (Spirit Refinement) expert who had cultivated into a 'god' above the tenth level of Qi Refining could deal with him?

"Those who do not recognize the Great Dao, Master, why be angry?"

Zhou Yuan's body trembled.

A hand appeared out of nowhere, covering his head. Terrifying power instantly spread throughout his body.

He was lifted up like a chicken.

"You!"

Zhou Yuan was shocked and angry, and barely raised his head. It was a young Daoist carrying a sword. This Daoist's aura was sharp, and wherever he passed, the void seemed to be cut open, unable to heal for a long time.

This was clearly someone who had cultivated the Sword Dao supernatural power to the point of perfection!

"Are you curious why the formations set up by your Jing Ye Si have no reaction at all?"

The young Daoist looked at Zhou Yuan with a smile that was not a smile, but his eyes were full of indifference and undisguised mockery: "Because all the formations in the world come from the Daoist sect..."

As he spoke, he did not stop walking. He carried Zhou Yuan to the old Daoist and knelt down: "Yijian Sect (One Sword Sect), Meng Tong, greets the Master!"

"Yijian Sect..."

The old Daoist seemed a little puzzled.

A Daoist behind him explained: "Yijian Sect was born from Meng Bufan of the Wanjian Sect (Ten Thousand Swords Sect). That Meng Bufan was a disciple whom you expelled from the Daoist sect back then, and one of the sects he founded..."

"The inheritance is incomplete, but you can still cultivate into a Primordial Spirit, which shows that you have good talent."

The old Daoist nodded and said indifferently, "After this matter is over, I can take you back into the sect."

Meng Tong was overjoyed. He kowtowed nine times before standing up and joining the line behind the old Daoist.

'Are all the people behind this old Daoist Primordial Spirit great cultivators?'

Zhou Yuan's heart trembled.

"You guessed right, and you guessed wrong. Although they have Primordial Spirit cultivation, this level of cultivation is far from being considered 'great'."

The old Daoist's tone was calm, but under his gaze, Zhou Yuan's body could not stop trembling:

"Little Daoist friend, you said that the Daoist methods are unorthodox, but who taught you to say that?"

"I..."

Zhou Yuan's voice was hoarse, but he suddenly gritted his teeth: "I said it, so what?"

"Hehe."

The old Daoist smiled dumbly and shook his head: "You are not highly cultivated, and you are not very brave. On your own, how dare you insult my Daoist sect?"

The old Daoist shook his head, and the expressions of the people behind him became gloomy. Zhou Yuan gritted his teeth and closed his eyes, saying nothing.

The old Daoist did not care and casually asked, "How much do you know about this so-called 'Qi Refiner'?"

"Answering Master."

Meng Tong bowed and replied, "This so-called 'Qi Refiner' can be traced back to the Heaven Worship Ceremony eight hundred years ago. The current Emperor of the Great Zhou, Long Xingyi, held great power and was bewitched by some evil god, and began to promote the New Cultivation Method..."

"...Seven hundred years ago, the *Qi Dao* officially spread and quickly spread throughout the entire Great Zhou. It is divided into three major realms: 'Refining Essence', 'Refining Qi', and 'Refining Spirit'. Legend has it that there is another realm above it called 'Returning to Emptiness'..."

Meng Tong spoke concisely, explaining the origins of the *Qi Dao* one by one.

"What you said is not bad, but unfortunately, you have not discovered the most core thing about this Dao..."

The old Daoist first nodded, but then sighed long:

"If not for that... we would not have been unable to come out for so many years, to the point where this evil and crooked path has begun to flourish in the world, causing such a great disaster..."

"If this method is allowed to spread throughout the world, I am afraid it will be a disaster for my Daoist sect!"

"Ah?"

Meng Tong looked up blankly, not knowing what the core of the Master's words was, and even more horrified by the meaning in his words.

The other Daoists were also stunned. A middle-aged Daoist nun could not help but say, "It's just a newly emerged evil method, why would Master..."

"The so-called realms of 'Refining Essence', 'Refining Qi', 'Refining Spirit', and 'Returning to Emptiness' of this method are not worth worrying about, and the various supernatural powers are nothing. But the foundation of this method lies in 'Receiving the Talisman'!"

At this point, the old Daoist's gaze towards the distance became deep as the sea, and it seemed that endless undercurrents were surging within it:

"All methods of cultivation require 'Receiving the Talisman from Imperial Heaven', but this method requires 'Receiving the Talisman from Yuanyang'!"

Boom!

Like a thunderclap from the ground.

"How could this be?"

"How is this possible?!"

The world was silent, and the Daoists finally changed their expressions, realizing the terror contained within.

In all methods of cultivation, whether gods, demons, Buddhas, Daoists, or demons and ghosts, there may be opposition or conflict, but there is ultimately one point that must be the same.

That is, Receiving the Talisman from Imperial Heaven!

"This method contains the methods of the Daoist, Buddhist, and other Daos, and once deceived even this old Daoist. If I had not come to this Great Zhou in person, I am afraid there would have been a great disaster..."

The old Daoist stood with his hands behind his back, and his aura changed accordingly.

In a trance, the Daoists only felt that the Daoist in front of them was infinitely elevated, and in the blink of an eye, he was as tall as the heavens and the earth.

"Of all the evils in the world, defying the heavens is the greatest! Those who embark on this path will never be reborn!"

Boom!

As soon as the words fell, the heavens and the earth followed.

The wind and clouds gathered for tens of thousands of miles, the earth shook, and the hurricane rolled up sand and stones, covering the sky.

Thunderclouds rolled in from hundreds of millions of miles away. The originally calm North Sea suddenly became angry, setting off terrifying waves that connected the sky and the earth.

Buzz~

In the North Sea, and even in more distant places, cities were impacted by this aura, and they burst forth with the light of formations.

Countless people looked up in horror, only to see the sky like a sea, with waves rolling in the sea of thunder, as if the heavens were angry.

In the next moment, it would destroy the human world.

"Damo."

In the raging wind, Yang Jian stood with his saber, looking at Qiao Damo:

"Do you want to try to persuade that old Daoist to stop?"

Hu!

Yang Jian was just joking, and did not expect any response, but unexpectedly, his little nephew, who was a deadhead in his eyes, nodded.

"Alright!"