Painting of the Nine Immortals
chapter-149

The Sunset City covered five thousand square miles of breathtaking landscapes. The land was renowned for its fertility and was home to an abundance of spiritual stones. It was considered a medium-sized city in the Zhou Dynasty.

The city’s beauty was most renowned at dusk during sunset, hence the origin of its name.

In this instant, the sun was setting above the city, turning the clouds blood red.

Inside a packed wine house…

A youth dressed in white was sitting close to a window, drinking unaccompanied and observing the magnificent sunset with a half-emptied glass of wine.

He was Ling Xian.

He had intended to go straight to the House of Wan Jian. But he realized the moment he landed at the transporting location of the Vast Mountains that he had no clue which way the House of Wan Jian was situated. So he chose randomly and ended up here.

It took Ling Xian an enormous amount of effort to find out which establishment the Sunset City belonged to and how far the city was located from Wan Jian.

What he discovered made him laugh with tears.

The House of Wan Jian was located in the furthest region to the north, also known as the Sword of the North. The Zhou Dynasty, on the other hand, was located near the southern border, known as the Great Zhou of the South. He had chosen the worst option.

Ling Xian had planned to arrive quickly at Wan Jian. Now, he was farther than ever. If relying on his foundational level traveling speed, it would take more than one lifetime to reach his destination. He could only rely on transport travel through space.

But the only transportation station inside the Zhou Dynasty was located in its capital city. Ling Xian needed to get on a horse at once and head for the Zhou capital.

"Well, I may as well rest here overnight before heading over. We’ll call it a leisure stop." Ling Xian took another sip of his wine as he continued watching the sun setting over the city. The beauty of this phenomenal sunset was unparalleled.

But he failed to notice a slender man eyeing him from a near distance with a seemingly malicious intent.

This man was a member of a local gang which specialized in theft and robbery. He had been observing Ling Xian for a while now and identified him as a foreigner of limited skills.

With his own limited skills, he had evidently misidentified his target. He was young and foolish and equated Ling Xian as someone of his own caliber.

A foreigner, of limited skills, in other words, he was a fat sheep awaiting slaughter.

His specialty was such a target.

"Hehe, not bad. Looks like I’m in luck encountering a fat sheep while drinking." The skinny man sneered. He downed the rest of his wine in one giant gulp and walked up to Ling Xian.

"Brother, lend me something, alright?"

Ling Xian frowned irritably, threw him an agitated glance and demanded, "Lend you what?"

"What you have attached to your waist." The man pointed to his pouch, his eyes beamed with greed.

"If you want to rob me, just say so. Why beat around the bush?" Ling Xian eyed the man with a look of amusement. This was the first time anyone dared to rob him.

"If you insist, now quietly hand me your purse, or I’ll make sure you die an agonizing death," The slim man persisted.

Having arrived here by mistake, Ling Xian was already in a moody state and dying to lash out. Confronted with such a pitiful threat, Ling Xian raised an eyebrow and said, calmly.

"F*ck off."

The slender man’s expression darkened as a wave of ninth-level Qi rose into his chest. This malicious energy spooked the entire house and its guests. Eyes began shifting in the direction of the commotion, followed by whispers, some of pity, some of gloat.

"Ah, this little fellow is in for a rude awakening. He just offended the gang’s second-in-command, He Ying. He’s a cultivator of the ninth level, one of the best in the entire city."

"Hehe, He Ying specializes at targeting foreigners of limited skills. He’s found himself a fat sheep this time around."

"Looks like He Ying had been pissed off. This young fellow is in for a world of trouble. Perhaps he’d die here."

Hearing the chatters around him, He Ying’s confidence shot through the roof. He continued, "Little fellow, I give you one more chance, hand over your pouch, or I’ll stain the walls here with your blood."

"A mere cultivator of the ninth level dares to display such levels of arrogance. Seems like the Sunset City lacks proper security." Ling Xian narrowed his gaze, his anger intensifying. Not only did this man choose his target poorly, but he was also relentlessly irritating.

He needed to lash out, immediately!

"Dumb*ss, looks like you won’t hand that over. If you insist, then hand over your life instead." He Ying sneered coldly and unleashed his bony hand straight towards Ling Xian’s throat.

Shuaaaaaa!

His hand morphed into the shape of dragon’s claw and dash across the air with lightning speed. The force of this incoming attack was enormous.

This blow was perhaps deadly for an ordinary cultivator. But how could it hurt Ling Xian?

For Ling Xian, this blow was too soft to scratch an itch.

"Hmmm!"

Ling Xian let out an air of anger from his nostril. He neither countered the attack nor summoned his energy. The release of this tiny bit of air alone was enough to transform into a giant, invisible hammer and pound down on the soul of the attacking enemy.

"Ah…ah…ah…!"

The slim man cried out in agony. He squatted down onto the floor as blood poured out of his eyes, nose, and ears. His cries were heart-wrenchingly terrifying. No one could imagine the pain he was experiencing.

Even the spectators not in the direct path of the crashing hammer felt their breaths shortened. If Ling Xian directed the weapon directly at them, perhaps everyone inside the wine house would be down on the ground, screaming in pain.

The magnificent power of the Soul Splitting Attack.

The Taoism Community revolves around three paths of cultivation: Body, Qi, and Soul.

If one targets the soul of the opponent instead of the body, the attacker could easily kill the opponent’s soul given that the attacker’s Qi was stronger than the opponent’s soul. Even if the soul were not killed completely, the pain and damage would still be irreversible.

During a battle, even if the opponent splits his focus for even an instant, the outcome of the battle could alter in favor of the attacker.

Unfortunately, the powers of the soul could only be utilized in battle if the cultivator had broken through to the eighth level. The paths of the body and the path of the soul have been largely neglected for generations by average cultivator. The physical body was difficult to enhance due to the lack of natural supplements that remained available in the wild. The previous generations of cultivators had made sure of that. The Soul was neglected due to the abundance of magical weapons that achieved similar results, and it was therefore often unnecessary for a cultivator to train down such a path. As a result, the vast majority of cultivators today focused solely on the path of Qi.

Only a few alchemists who were required to nurture the soul to maturity enjoy the complementary skill of maneuvering both the Qi and the soul together.

Of course, Ling Xian was one of such cultivators. The power of his soul had already breached the eighth level. It was his forgetfulness that allowed him to conceal this powerful advantage from the public eye.

Today, confronted with such a sleazy crook, Ling Xian couldn’t bother to lift a finger and unleashed him soul power out of laziness. The result was just as he had hoped for.

With a single strike, the slim man fell to the ground in agony with blood gushing out of his pores.