Chapter 327: 150: The Concept of Dao Soldiers, Jiang Country's Number One Loose Cultivator_3
It involved using some kind of cultivation technique to train humans or demon beasts into a kind of death warriors.
But these death warriors not only possessed high combat effectiveness, but they could also form battle formations; whether in magical combat against enemies or other matters, they were extraordinary.
“May I ask, fellow Daoist, what about Refined Soldiers and Magic Soldiers? What’s the situation with them?”
Lu Changsheng sipped his tea and continued to inquire.
“As for Refined Soldiers, for example, certain puppets with unique characteristics, spirits of magical treasures, or those created through techniques such as corpse refinement and ghost nurturing—any Dao Soldiers artificially made are collectively known as Refined Soldiers.”
“As for Magic Soldiers, they are mostly magical treasures capable of cultivating and nurturing Dao Soldiers.”
“For instance, in the Demon Path there is an extremely famous magical treasure called the Myriad Soul Banner, which, after killing human or demon beasts, can refine their souls into the banner, turning them into fierce ghosts.”
“Such are known as Magic Soldiers.”
“What most of us refer to as Dao Soldiers, generally means those that have been cultivated, and the cultivators and forces that can cultivate Dao Soldiers in the cultivation world are truly few and far between, which is why so few people know of Dao Soldiers.”
The shopkeeper lightly sipped his tea, smiling as he spoke.
“Domesticated Soldiers? Refined Soldiers? Magic Soldiers?”
Lu Changsheng, upon hearing about the three types of Dao Soldiers, nodded thoughtfully as if gaining a rough concept of them.
“So with that said, which category of Dao Soldiers does my Golden Armor Bean Mother fall into?”
Lu Changsheng felt that his Golden Armor Bean Mother didn’t seem to fit into any of the three types of Dao Soldiers the shopkeeper mentioned.
It was somewhat like a Domesticated Soldier, but also somewhat like a Magic Soldier.
He remembered the system had introduced it as a Spirit Plant type Dao Soldier.
It seemed to lean more towards the Domesticated Soldier type.
However, he didn’t pay it much mind.
The shopkeeper was only a Qi Refinement peak cultivator after all.
His understanding of Dao Soldiers was bound to be limited and couldn’t possibly encompass everything.
Besides, rewards from the system couldn’t be measured by ordinary standards.
“May I ask, fellow Daoist, in our Jiang Country Cultivation Realm, are there any forces that have Dao Soldiers?”
Lu Changsheng continued to inquire.
“Within the Four Great Immortal Sects of our Jiang Country, the Spirit Taming Sect is renowned for taming spiritual beasts, so they definitely have domesticated Dao Soldiers.”
“But whether the Heavenly Sword Sect, Qingyun Sect, and Luoxia Sect have Dao Soldiers, I really do not know.”
“In our Jiang Country’s Three Great Immortal Cities, the Azure Phoenix Immortal of the Azure Phoenix Immortal City has domesticated a force of Azure Phoenix Dao Soldiers.”
“Rumor has it, two hundred years ago, Azure Phoenix Immortal, with the power of five hundred Azure Phoenix Dao Soldiers, both shocked Jiang Country and established Azure Phoenix Immortal City, hence earning the title of Jiang Country’s number one loose cultivator.”
The shopkeeper spoke.
“Azure Phoenix Immortal, Azure Phoenix Dao Soldiers.”
Lu Changsheng was somewhat surprised by these words.
Naturally aware of Azure Phoenix Immortal City, he had heard of the great reputation of the Azure Phoenix Immortal.
Yet, he did not know that this Azure Phoenix Immortal made a name for himself by relying on a force of Dao Soldiers to establish Azure Phoenix Immortal City.
“Indeed, rumor has it that Azure Phoenix Immortal back in the day was just in the initial stage of Core Formation, but with five hundred Azure Phoenix Dao Soldiers, he was able to go head-to-head with those in the late stage of Core Formation.”
The shopkeeper spoke of Azure Phoenix Immortal with a look of admiration and longing in his eyes.
The Azure Phoenix Immortal, as a loose cultivator without any backing, yet managed to condense a True Elixir.
Furthermore, he established Azure Phoenix Immortal City, a sacred site for loose cultivators, on the border between Jiang Country and Yue Country, naturally earning the worship of numerous loose cultivators and setting a goal for them to strive for.
“As expected, those who have made a name for themselves in the cultivation world, especially loose cultivators, all fit the mold of chosen children of destiny.”
Lu Changsheng felt that this Azure Phoenix Immortal was indeed formidable after hearing these words.
At his current state of early Foundation Establishment, he felt he could barely compete with those at the late stage of Foundation Establishment.
The gap in strength between stages of Core Formation would be even greater.
Yet this Azure Phoenix Immortal was able to confront someone in the late stage of Core Formation during his initial stage.
“However, Azure Phoenix Immortal’s Azure Phoenix Dao Soldiers are also amongst the top ranks of the many Dao Soldiers.”
“As far as I know, one of the Three Great Cultivation Families in our Jiang Country, the Beast Taming Xu Family, has also domesticated a force of Water Serpent Dao Soldiers and Fire Raven Dao Soldiers, but they are far from matching the Azure Phoenix Dao Soldiers of the Azure Phoenix Immortal.”
The shopkeeper continued to introduce the Dao Soldiers.
“The Beast Taming Xu Family, Water Serpent Dao Soldiers, Fire Raven Dao Soldiers.”
Lu Changsheng nodded slightly upon hearing this.
He had heard of this Beast Taming Xu Family.
One of Jiang Country’s Three Great Cultivation Families.
With a Nascent Soul Immortal sitting in residence, it was a true cultivation family.
It is not at all comparable to small cultivation families like Qing Zhu’s Lu Family or Red Leaf Valley’s Chen Family.
Unexpectedly, this family not only has a Nascent Soul ancestor presiding but also cultivates Dao soldiers.
However, he discovered that the store owner spoke only of domesticating Dao soldiers.
There was no mention of refining soldiers or magic soldiers.
Right away, Lu Changsheng inquired about refining soldiers and magic soldiers.
“Dao soldiers are indeed rare and difficult to cultivate,”
“Compared to domesticated soldiers, refining soldiers have more associations with the Heretical Path, and naturally, they are less seen in Jiang Country.”
“Centuries ago, the royal family of Yue Country, which bordered our Jiang Country, secretly stirred up successive wars to select a batch of battle-hardened soldiers and refine a type of Dao soldier.”
“When the several great immortal sects of Yue Country learned of this, they directly exterminated the entire royal family.”
“As for magic soldiers, they are even more exceedingly rare.”
“Apart from the infamous Myriad Soul Banner of the Demon Path, I’ve heard that the Yiming Ghost Sect of Jin Kingdom has a treasured artifact known as the Myriad Ghosts Blood Pool, which uses the blood of myriad spirits for nourishment and can foster a type of Dao soldier.”
The shop owner said this and then finished another cup of tea.
After speaking, he also turned to Lu Changsheng and said, “Fellow Daoist, this is all I know about Dao soldiers.”
“Thank you for enlightening me and broadening my horizons,” Lu Changsheng immediately cupped his hands in thanks.
He handed over the remaining fifty Spirit Stones for the tea and then took his leave.
“These Dao soldiers really do sound impressive.”
“If I could draw a magical treasure capable of nurturing Dao soldiers from the system lottery, perhaps I could cultivate my own Dao soldiers,” Lu Changsheng thought to himself.
Having understood roughly the three types of Dao soldiers, he felt magic soldiers were the best.
Whether it was domesticated soldiers or refined soldiers, they were too difficult in terms of time and effort.
Only magic soldiers, which could be nurtured and cultivated using a magical treasure, were the best option.
It was also the most likely for him to obtain directly through the system lottery.
Without further thought, Lu Changsheng found an inn to disguise himself in new clothes and then quickly left Qingyun Market.
“Quite smart to know to change his appearance and disguise.”
“But daring to compete with me, Meng Yibai, for a woman, he must pay the price.”
At the entrance and exit of the marketplace, atop the second floor balcony.
A young man in his twenties, bursting with vigor, sensed something and stood up, looking outwards. In his hand, a golden hamster appeared, pointing out Lu Changsheng, who had just left the marketplace, from the crowd.
Lu Changsheng, after stepping out of the marketplace, did not ride the Iron Feather Eagle.
He also did not control a flying artifact.
Instead, he attempted to fly by controlling the air.
After all, the most significant feature of a breakthrough from Qi refining to Foundation Establishment is the ability to fly through the air without relying on flying artifacts.
Now that he had broken through to Foundation Establishment, it was natural for him to try out and experience it.
With a movement of his mental spirit, Lu Changsheng naturally rose into the air and began to fly through the air.
Many cultivators were coming and going next to Qingyun Market.
Seeing Lu Changsheng flying, they all gave way, showing envy and respect.
Even in large marketplaces like Qingyun Market, Energy Refining Cultivators are more common.
Seeing a cultivator flying through the air, they naturally understood he was a Foundation Establishment Great Cultivator, and they didn’t dare to offend him.
Because if this great cultivator was in a bad mood and felt they were in the way, a simple slap could kill them without anywhere to seek justice.
“The reason Energy Refining Cultivators cannot fly is that their spiritual power is insufficient to support their bodies, and they need to rely on flying artifacts.”
“But after breaking through to Foundation Establishment, one undergoes a profound transformation, shedding the mortal coil, and the spiritual energy within transforms into mana, becoming more than ten times more robust, enabling the body to lift off and fly through the air.”
Lu Changsheng tried out flying and understood the principle behind it.
Immediately, he descended from the air, released the Iron Feather Eagle, and flew towards Qing Zhu Mountain.
Even though Foundation Establishment Cultivators can fly through the air, they cannot do so for long distances without incurring some consumption.
Therefore, it’s still preferable to travel by mount or artifact.
Meanwhile,
Meng Yibai left Qingyun Market and released a palm-sized golden hamster from his spirit beast bag.
“Which direction did he go?” he fed it an elixir medicine and spoke faintly.
“Chirp chirp chirp…”
The golden hamster nibbled on the elixir and immediately pointed in one direction.