In my twilight years of cultivating, I became a Supreme Daoist of the Longevity Path

Clang! ——

A terrifying swath of Broadsword Qi slammed viciously into the Golden Aura Shield, causing not a metallic noise but a low and heavy hum.

The shards of leaves and broken branches on the ground were swept away by the impact, creating a chaotic scene.

Chen Dengming felt as if he had been electrocuted. The Dengming Knife in his hand shattered inch by inch, his Broadsword Qi depleted, while the Golden Aura Shield revolving slowly around the old man continued to shine brightly, seemingly indestructible.

"You're trying to shake my Daoism, driven by spiritual energy, with your Innate True Qi?"

The old man chuckled lightly, a hint of murderous intent flashed in his eyes, he sent a shuttle-like object spinning furiously towards Chen Dengming.

But in that instant, a shadow shot out and hit the old man's Golden Aura Shield, its poisonous teeth biting down on it.

'Crack'!

The seemingly indestructible Golden Aura Shield suddenly had a hole in it.

"What the hell is it?!"

The old man was startled and turned around abruptly, but a blood-colored shadow flashed in front of his eyes, moving too swiftly to allow any reaction time.

"Ah!"

The old man felt intense pain on his face as if he was bitten by a poisonous insect. His face soon became numb, and the Golden Aura Shield around him collapsed.

The shuttle he had released barely grazed Chen Dengming's belly, drawing blood. As he was about to circle back, Chen Dengming let out a roar, leaped towards him, and struck the old man with the broken knife.

The force behind the knife was overwhelming, as if a mighty army was charging forth, the kill aura it carried was unlike anything before, the brave would prevail in a narrow path.

"Ugh! ——"

The old man's body shivered.

Chen Dengming suddenly stopped in his tracks.

Four eyes met, their auras clashed like sparks in a duel.

One was letting his anger fuel his force.

The other couldn't believe his despairing and astounded situation.

"You..."

The old man's eyes flickered, giving a sidelong glance at the blood-red centipede on his forehead.

His eyes soon dimmed, from his hairline to his chin, a bloody line appeared. Blood gushed out, and he fell backward with a thud.

"Phew——"

Only then did Chen Dengming exhale a long, turbid breath, avoided the pool of blood, held his bleeding stomach, and stared at the old man's corpse on the ground in shock.

A large portion of his face turned black where the Blood Centipede Gu had bitten him. The blackened area soon spread to his whole face and neck which showed the black blood vessels beneath the skin. Black blood oozed from the wound and gave off a foul smell.

"Rustle——"

The Blood Centipede Gu, with its hundreds of feet, happily crawled along the old man's facial wound, its pincer-like teeth devouring the poisonous blood and its body reddening, a sight to make one's heart flutter.

"I killed a cultivator?"

Only now did Chen Dengming finally relax from his combat-ready state, only to feel that his entire upper body was numb.

A strong wave of spiritual energy was still running rampant in his meridians, heading for his heart. His Innate True Qi was incapable of stopping it.

If this continues, he would either die or be crippled.

The strength of a cultivator and spiritual energy was far beyond his imagination.

"I must get rid of the spiritual energy inside me immediately."

Chen Dengming looked grave, noticing the Blood Centipede Gu seemed to have gotten stronger after ingesting the cultivator's poisoned blood. He then recalls how the Blood Centipede Gu had bitten through the cultivator's shield.

Perhaps the Spirit Gu wasn't afraid of spiritual energy. Even more, it seemed to view spiritual energy as food...something it could absorb?

Chen Dengming made up his mind and looked around.

Picking up the still squirming Spirit Fish from the ground, he took pleasure in smacking the old man's face with the fish's tail mercilessly, making a series of 'slaps'.

"You love eating fish, don't you? Well, I'll feed you until you've had enough! Feel the cold fish slapping your face!"

"Eat! Here's the chance and you can't even eat it, you're useless!"

Having given several good slaps to satisfy his revenge, Chen Dengming kicked the old man's face, stirring his wounds and causing contortions of pain.

He had no time to deal with the scene just yet. Operating his cultivation technique, he placed the Blood Centipede Gu on his abdominal wound, making it consume the spiritual energy within his body.

...

Half a stick of incense later.

Chen Dengming looked relieved. The rampaging spiritual energy in his body had been partially consumed by the Blood Centipede Gu, thus temporarily under control.

Without waiting for his condition to stabilize fully, he quickly cleaned up the battlefield, took the cultivator's belongings and picked up the shattered blade pieces on the ground.

Upon further consideration, Chen Dengming once again forced the Blood Centipede Gu to corrode the old man's corpse with its poison. After the deceased's wounds were entirely unrecognizable, looking as if they had been gnawed by insects, he quickly lifted the body and threw it towards the seemingly ordinary woods across.

As expected.

Some sort of formation was set there.

The old man's body was swallowed up as if by an invisible mouth, disappearing into the forest immediately.

"A formation...?"

Chen Dengming narrowed his eyes to observe for a moment, suppressing his curiosity and greed, not rashly exploring and quickly turning to leave.

Now that he already had the cultivation technique, he just needs to lay low and practice. This will quickly extend his life, and he can enhance his spiritual root quality with the "Life-Shortening Cultivation Enhancement Skill", eventually boosting his cultivation speed. When the cultivation speed is enhanced, the lifespan will increase even more rapidly, creating a closed loop of perfection...

Hence, there's no need to take risks for small gains now.

This time, if it were not for the constant pressure from the old man, he would really be unwilling to risk battling with the cultivator, even with the Blood Centipede Gu...

...

A few days later.

In the loose cultivator's gathering place, not only had Chen Dengming healed most of his injuries, but he had also hidden the magic artifacts and spirit stones he had obtained from the elderly cultivator in various secret spots outside the gathering place, leaving only several spiritual grains on hand.

As for the spiritual fish, he dared not try to sell it, and didn't dare to cook it to make it too fragrant. He heated it in a hidden corner to eliminate parasites, and then ate it while it was still half-cooked.

After eating the spiritual fish, his injuries healed even faster. The spiritual energy from the meat also led to the final accumulation of his innate True Qi, finally breaking through to the level of Innate Eightfold. This added three more years to his lifespan, extending it to a total of 138 years.

Next, he would cultivate the Daoism of the "Three Elements Gathering Spirit Skill", transforming all his Innate True Qi into spiritual energy to finally break through and become a cultivator.

During these days, he was anxious, worried about his murder of the old cultivator being exposed, and was always ready to flee.

He even regretted it. He resented the old cultivator for not appreciating his respect, bullying a simple and honest man like him too much, forcing him to kill in a fit of anger.

If everyone were to have a good talk, if the other party could put down the airs of a cultivator, sit down and have a cup of tea, maybe he could even treat the other party to a spiritual fish.

Why must one turn into a fish god of war, using a fish tail to slap people's faces in such a crude manner.

However, the person was already dead and the corpse desecrated by him. These feelings of regret quickly passed through Chen Dengming's mind and were replaced with feelings of relief.

If he could do it all over again in such a desperate situation, he would still have to defeat the cultivator, let the spiritual fish slap him in the face, and deflate his arrogance.

Perhaps it was good luck.

For several days in a row, nobody mentioned the news of the death of the old cultivator from the Gold Word Workshop.

In contrast, the news of a demonic beast appearing by the Spirit Moon Lake was causing a stir, leading to a significant reduction in the cultivators leaving the gathering place.

Chen Dengming knew, that he truly has to thank the unidentified demonic beast this time.

It was likely that due to the presence of the demonic beast, no cultivators from the Gold Word Workshop approached the lake to engage the old cultivator who was residing there. Naturally, they wouldn't have discovered the death of the old cultivator.

Furthermore, it was common for cultivators to retreat from society for a month or even several months for cultivation.

If there were police stations in this world, not seeing someone for several months, even reporting a disappearance, probably wouldn't be put on file.

By this time, Chen Dengming was completely relieved and knew that there was no need to flee.

He once again appeared in some of the areas he frequently visited, turned down some regular customers who wanted to buy his fish, informed them that he can't afford to pay the rental fee for the fish stall anymore, and is now switching professions, and intended to receive a temporary residence of his own.....

...

...

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