Demon Immortal

The Greenwood Forest, which has been recently filled with the sounds of countless battles, ushered in some temporary peace as the treasure that everyone fought for finally landed in the hands of the old man from Little Heaven Sect.

Even though many fights haven\'t reached a decisive conclusion, the First Elder of the Little Heaven Sect bravely performed a forbidden technique and temporarily raised his power to the Nascent Soul stage.

As a result, he single-handedly found some breathing room for himself and his sect members and retreated from the chaotic Greenwood Forest with the treasure in hand. Many Golden Core cultivators were dissatisfied with the result and were unable to swallow their frustrations.

While they knew that the old man had sacrificed most of his remaining lifespan to gain a chance to break through to the Nascent Soul realm, who amongst them was willing to let this chance go by?

However, dissatisfaction was only dissatisfaction. It wasn\'t like they could knock on the doors of the Little Heaven Sect and demand the old man to hand over the treasure. Hence, most Golden Core cultivators unwillingly left the region with reluctance in their hearts.

But, this was just related to the fights at the Golden Core realm.

While most Golden Core cultivators returned to their respective sects reluctantly, the experts at the Golden Hall realm and Violet Palace realm didn\'t retreat immediately.

No one knew when it happened, but sometime during the fight, the peaceful Greenwood Forest transformed into a treasure land. Numerous hard-to-obtain treasures kept resurfacing all over the forest causing every faction to scramble to obtain these treasures.

Very few had the presence of mind to realize that something was wrong with the whole thing. Most cultivators were overtaken by greed and lethargy. They didn\'t care about these small details much. All they wanted was to loot the forest as much as possible.

With most Golden Core realm cultivators retreating from the stage, the fights amongst the remaining cultivators became even more brutal. Blood seemed to seep into the grounds of the Greenwood Forest deeply as conflicts rose with each resource that was discovered.

The strange thing about the entire event was that only one resource seemed to surface every time. Only when it was harvested did the next one pop up in some other place. 

Not knowing whether the treasure before me was the last one available, the fights for the treasure became very hard. Several Golden Hall realm experts were seriously injured during the fight causing them to rest and recuperate within the forest. 

On the other hand, the Violet Palace realm cultivators were showing far more dangerous signs. Conflicts between them arose without even the presence of a treasure. Most of these fights were fought to the death.

Within a few days, the entire atmosphere in the Greenwood Forest became menacing. There were fights to death happening all around and no one was willing to walk away from the forest as well.

Since it hadn\'t been that long since the Golden Core cultivators retreated from the region, no one suspected the bizarre things that were happening at the Greenwood Forest initially.

However, from the fourth day onwards, the soul lamps that were within various sects began to break down one after the other continuously causing every sect to be alarmed. Even Golden Hall realm experts started dying one after the other. This created a huge commotion in the various sects.

Alarmed and suspicious, the Golden Core experts who just retreated from the region were once more dispatched to check out the situation. This time most of the Golden Core experts took a cautious attitude and wanted to probe the situation inside carefully.

Only when they neared Greenwood Forest did they realize something was very wrong with the entire forest. This time, they weren\'t even able to step into the Greenwood Forest. There was a large array present that prevented them from entering the forest altogether.

The entire Greenwood Forest was covered in a red haze. A strong bloody odor emanated from there causing those who came near to flinch and change their expression drastically. 

When the Golden Core experts of various sects got together and tried to probe the situation inside with their consciousness, they were assaulted spiritually as well. The moment their spiritual senses entered the array, they were assaulted with images of demons and ghosts. Their spiritual sense was swallowed in short order causing them to reel back in pain and shock.

No matter how they attacked or what weapon they used, nothing seemed to work against the array. The Golden Core experts were at a loss. They were locked outside the array and had no clue what was happening inside.

Meanwhile, the soul lamps in the sects were breaking off at frequent intervals causing the entire righteous path to be alarmed. As they struggled to get in, the disciples and elders of their sects were perishing inside the Greenwood Forest one after the other.

Greenwood Forest, which had been an unremarkable forest two months ago, had suddenly become a monster that was akin to a forbidden zone. No matter what they tried, the entire forest was engulfed in a bloody haze that refused to be moved.

In the end, these Golden Core experts finally gave in and decided to contact the few Nascent Soul realm experts who were present in various sects, asking them to take action. That\'s when the next bad news came.

Most Nascent Soul experts and promising Golden Core cultivators were all currently headed to the Dark Star City for the major auction that was going to be held in the next few days.

To them, the matter at Greenwood Forest seemed trivial. The treasures present there weren\'t enough to enter their eyes. However, the treasures that were going to be auctioned this time were another matter. They informed their sects to wait and watch for any development until they returned from the Dark Star City.

Moreover, while there were deaths of Golden Hall experts inside the array, it was relatively rare. Most of the deaths were from the Violet Palace realm cultivators. To experts who were busy in the Dark Star City, Violet Palace realm cultivators weren\'t too important. Hence, they didn\'t pay enough attention to this event at the beginning. Right now, all their focus was on the major auction held in Dark Star City. 

Not knowing what else to do, most Golden Core experts ended up surrounding Greenwood Forest and waiting for the more powerful members of their sects to come back. As for the Golden Hall experts and the Violet Palace realm cultivators, they could only fend for themselves inside the array. 

Meanwhile, inside the Dark Star City…

The atmosphere had become festive and the entire city was filled with cacophony of jubilant voices. The fell matters that were happening in the Greenwood Forest seemed irrelevant to those who were present in the city. The entire city felt like it was preparing for a carnival.

Duncan didn\'t go out for the rest of the week.

He remained behind in the courtyard he had rented and was instructing Leia about everything he knew in the cultivation world. Duncan was trying to cram as much common sense about the cultivation world into Leia\'s head in the little time he had left with her.

Their routine was pretty simple.

Each morning, Duncan would guide Leia in introducing qi into her body as per the cultivation technique he had picked out from the Blue Wind Society Hall for her. After that, he would talk to her about various taboos regarding cultivation and how to avoid them. Each day he would talk about a few and try to explain the whys and hows with some practical examples.

To Leia, these things were very easy to memorize. While she didn\'t understand much currently, memorizing them was not hard in itself. She was also very diligent in regards to becoming a cultivator. 

After her recent experience and Duncan\'s passionate speech about how power ultimately decided their safety in this world, she also began to pursue power in her own way. While she didn\'t want to dominate everyone and stand above others like Duncan, she wanted enough power to protect herself. Hence, her interest in cultivation was also genuine.

After that, Duncan would retreat to meditate while Leia would read up on the alchemy-related information Duncan had given her. When it came to things related to alchemy, she was like a duck to the water. She would often become engrossed in it for hours until Duncan once again came back to guide her on martial arts in the evening.

When it came to martial arts, Duncan had a few of the various types in his collection. Duncan didn\'t overwhelm Leia with various martial arts. He went through the various martial arts in his possessions and picked out a relatively soft-natured sword technique called <Flowing River Sword Art> and instructed her on it.

The <Flowing River Sword Art> was a typical soft sword art. It focused on movements and timing, rather than power. Comparatively speaking, Duncan found the sword art lacking in several aspects. Compared to his <Absolute Cut Sword Art> and <Absolute Slash Sword Art>, he felt that there was a major difference in attack power and martial arts conception in the <Flowing River Sword Art>. 

At night, they both indulged in carnal pleasure. Even though Leia knew that Duncan would leave within a week, she didn\'t want to distance herself. Rather, she took the initiative to start things. Duncan wasn\'t a saint either. Since Leia didn\'t have any scruples, he also indulged himself completely.

In the morning, they were like a teacher and a student. When night arrived, Leia assumed the role of a dutiful slave whose only value for existence was to please her master. She went as far as to refuse to take away the slave collar she wore until they parted. 

With Duncan running <Coiling Dragon Sutra> every time they indulged in carnal activities, Leia\'s body also imperceptibly strengthened every day. Duncan was also reaping benefits when it came to strengthening his body and foundation to a new level every night. 

Under Duncan\'s careful and meticulous instruction, Leia introduced qi into her body in just four days…

*****

A/N: Check out my other stories and let me know your thoughts...

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