Chapter 173: Yin Dregs Exhausted, Corpse Qi Eradicated
Good grief, just two days ago I tipped off Shopkeeper Chen to be careful of Owl Third Master.
In the blink of an eye, Owl Third Master is gone!
Fish Manor is gone too!
This is too much of a coincidence!
No, it was a coincidence to begin with…
Xiao Liu promptly interrupted his own speculation.
Don’t pay attention, don’t think, don’t ask.
Xiao Liu immediately put on a smiling face again and went to serve the next customer.
“Oh my, Lord Wang, how come you’ve arrived!”
……
Under the well shed.
Chen Shun’an sat in front of the elm wooden table, his eyes half-closed, visualizing the Six Sceneries Rotation Diagram on one side while eavesdropping on Lin Shou Zhuo begging for martial arts.
After only pausing for a moment, Chen Shun’an sighed inwardly and withdrew his attention.
Too superficial.
Lin Shou Zhuo’s martial path and the difficulties he asked about were, to the current Chen Shun’an, no more difficult than a child’s bead calculation—clumsy and crude.
Not even qualified to inspire analogous insight in him.
However…
Recalling Elder Feng’s pair of legs like tree roots, merging with the banyan tree’s aerial roots as one, integrating into the underground scene.
Chen Shun’an’s heart stirred, and he brewed an idea.
“Senior, this junior also has some questions about true intent cultivation that I want to consult you on.”
As soon as Lin Shou Zhuo left, Chen Shun’an walked up to Elder Feng and performed a thousand-li bow.
Elder Feng’s expression was calm, and he gave Chen Shun’an a lukewarm glance.
True intent?
So greedy for more after getting Shu, can you even understand it…
“Eh?”
Unaware until he looked; upon looking, Elder Feng immediately exclaimed in surprise and doubt.
How in just a few short days.
In a daze, he actually felt that Chen Shun’an seemed to harbor a terrifying power, like a hibernating great snake encountering the Awakening of Insects in the second month, awaiting only the spring thunder to roar before undergoing dragon-snake transformation, bursting with vitality, and reversing aging.
“Something’s off, how does it carry a hint of martial dao deity… Is this the mystery of the Three Refinements Body, the Chong He Martial Tendon Body?”
Elder Feng vaguely felt something was off about Chen Shun’an, but couldn’t pinpoint exactly what.
In the end, he could only attribute it to Chen Shun’an’s unique physique.
After all, the mysteries of the martial path are still being studied even by people today.
How many types the Three Refinements Body has, and the limits of the Chong He Martial Tendon Body’s ‘harmonizing bone and qi, transforming essence and blood,’ are still unknown.
Especially…
Chen Shun’an was quite perceptive, proactively pouring tea and offering water.
Wait, it’s actually secret tunnel sparrow tongue tea? Brewed with Miyun Sweet Spring?!
Hiss, this taste, it’s been many years since I last savored it.
That brat Zhao Guangxi really deserves a beating!
Not even as good as an outsider!
Thus, Elder Feng’s voice carried a bit more seriousness, and his gaze toward Chen Shun’an held a bit more goodwill as he said,
“What questions do you have? Ask away. This old man knows everything and will say everything.”
Chen Shun’an pondered briefly, organized his words, and said,
“Elder Feng, this junior is over fifty and only now coming into prominence. Now I study diligently and practice arduously, consuming pills extensively, but for some reason, lately the more I cultivate, the more I feel something unusual under my body, as if something is about to grow out?”
“Oh? You’ve already encountered the ‘Yin Dregs Exhausted, Corpse Qi Extinguished’ realm? Not bad, not bad. If you don’t fall, you can at least cultivate to the Slay Four Thieves realm in the future…”
Hearing this, Elder Feng looked Chen Shun’an over with some surprise.
Offering slight praise.
At least? Chen Mou has already Slain Five Thieves…
Chen Shun’an muttered silently, then timely put on a puzzled face and asked in return,
“Senior, what is ‘Yin Dregs Exhausted, Corpse Qi Extinguished’?”
“I assume you know about true intent Slaying the Six Thieves. In the end, it’s actually the process of subduing the conscious spirit, right?”
Chen Shun’an nodded and said, “This junior knows.”
Among the world’s myriad spirits, those born from wet eggs or wombs—whether practicing martial arts or awakening intelligence and spirituality—all inevitably go through illuminating the nascent spirit and slaying the conscious spirit.
The nascent spirit is born from innate qi, the most essential and primal root of life for a person. If manifested externally, it becomes martial aptitude, various aptitudes, and even the Three Refinements Martial Body.
A weak nascent spirit means innate deficiency: prone to illness in youth, early death, and extreme difficulty entering martial cultivation.
Basically, those who can practice martial arts have nascent spirits that aren’t too weak.
The conscious spirit, born from eating grains and cereals and encountering joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure, is desire—like dark clouds pressing down, obscuring the nascent spirit above, making the nascent spirit unclear, clouded by interests, leading to all sorts of foolish moves, that is, Calamity Qi Clouding the Heart, or even actively seeking death.
Rustic husbands and wives say someone is ghost-possessed, their temperament greatly changed, jumping off cliffs or into water—that’s actually the conscious spirit running rampant, completely overwhelming the nascent spirit.
So the Six Thieves of eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind, when melted into one, are actually the ‘conscious spirit’!
What the True Intent Realm must do is step by step slay the conscious spirit, allowing the nascent spirit to fully awaken!
Plucking a martial dao deity means plucking one’s own nascent spirit!
Elder Feng said wistfully, “Then it’s simple. To slay the conscious spirit, even transform the conscious spirit into the nascent spirit—is it really that easy?”
“The two are originally yin and yang aspects, you in me, me in you, both are yourself. The conscious spirit is like yin dregs; exhaust the yin dregs, and corpse qi extinguishes while the root of life abruptly severs. The nascent spirit takes form, and the mortal body dies with soul and spirit emptied.”
“This is a process from death toward birth. Be slightly careless, and you’ll end up like me…”
Elder Feng didn’t avoid it, lifting the robe below him to reveal those nearly wooden legs integrated with the banyan tree, and said,
“The fate of the root of life about to sever and soul about to scatter. My cultivation method, called 《Departure Wood Longevity Method》, lacks offensive power but nourishes the nascent spirit and extends life, inherently intimate with various precious plants, so only by borrowing external objects, like this banyan tree, can I reconnect the root of life and continue clinging to survival.”
Hearing this, Chen Shun’an frowned slightly.
He agreed with most of what Elder Feng said.
But that last phrase ‘borrowing external objects’ struck Chen Shun’an as somewhat strange.
He, Chen Shun’an, had rolled in the dirt of Wuqing County for decades, and in the first dozen or so years, he didn’t remember a banyan tree of such grandeur on Nanguan Street—its aerial roots alone as thick as water buckets.
After all, Nanguan Street is a main road with carriages and horses streaming like clouds; how could they easily allow a massive gnarled tree to stand in the street center, forcing detours everywhere and enduring the inconvenience?
If it could be moved, it would be; if not, it would have been chopped down long ago!
Chen Shun’an vaguely remembered that more than ten years ago on a rainy night, when Zhao Guangxi had just become landlord and bought Crouching Tiger Well…
A banyan tree rose straight from the ground.
All the common folk indifferently accepted it, taking it as normal.
If deduced by this timeline, the nodes of Elder Feng taking position at Crouching Tiger Well and the banyan tree appearing matched perfectly.
Chen Shun’an said gravely, “Elder Feng, is it possible that this banyan tree is you?”
Hearing this, Elder Feng irritably rolled his eyes at Chen Shun’an, slightly annoyed, and said,
“You bastard, what nonsense are you spouting! How can a person turn into a monster, tree, flower, or the like? This banyan tree was planted here long ago; I came later!”
“In short!”
Elder Feng said, “Once you endure past the ‘Yin Dregs Exhausted, Corpse Qi Extinguished’ threshold…”
At this point, a flash of fanaticism swept through Elder Feng’s eyes, his voice even faintly distorting,
“Three Refinements Combined is imminent, laying the foundation for martial godhood! Martial Dao Grandmaster within reach! This reconnecting banyan tree is my martial dao foundation! I die, but also live! Hahaha, kid, do you understand!”
Hearing this, Chen Shun’an felt a chill.
You’re almost turned into a tree, become a tree spirit, and you call this your martial dao foundation?
You’ve gone astray!
But from this consultation, Chen Shun’an understood one thing.
The more Six Thieves slain, the closer to truly seeing the conscious spirit; while gaining immense power, one also falls into the abyss.
Falling into this ‘Yin Dregs Exhausted, Corpse Qi Extinguished’ realm.
This process actually sprouted in the Second-rate Realm long ago.
Like Violent Ape Lin Shou Zhuo, Cat Ghost God Zhao Guangxi.
Flesh Ganoderma, Chen Shun’an.
And if one fails to endure this threshold, lightly then like Elder Feng—half-mad half-demented, root of life about to sever, even gradually turning demonic.
Severely then…
Probably become that Great Black Snake.
But if one endures it…
“Whatever rampant conscious spirit, whatever yin dregs and corpse qi, all suppressed! I am Grandmaster; no evil approaches, all monsters cower!”
Chen Shun’an suddenly realized.
Cultivating to Martial Dao Grandmaster is one of his key paths to tear through the thick demonic fog of Changbai Sacred Dynasty.
“Lock the mind-monkey to enlighten on emptiness, tether the intent-horse to transform into dragon—this is Grandmaster.”
……
“Have you noticed, Shopkeeper Chen is always napping under the shed, often falling asleep while calculating accounts or talking…”
“What? There’s such a thing, this won’t do! What if he catches a cold? What if he gets pillow headache?! I’ll go buy Shopkeeper Chen a foot warmer and pillow, to provide him support and backing!”
“You sycophantic flatterer, I am ashamed to associate with you!”
“Hm? Where are you going?”
“Uh, nothing. The wooden bed in the well shed’s small room is old and creaky, squeaking; I’m idle, so I’ll fix it.”
If it were the previous Chen Shun’an, such drowsiness would only make others think him old and sleepy, spirit fatigued and fond of lying down—a sign of declining heart energy.
But now, bystanders and these water carriers fear Chen Shun’an isn’t sleeping soundly or comfortably, vying to serve him.
Called old and sleepy?
Called exhausting one’s spirit and energy!
Backbone?
Dignity?
In front of Shopkeeper Chen, none of that matters!
Twilight gathered, Chen Shun’an woke faintly, helplessly laughing and cursing at the crowd of diligent, caring water carriers, then carried his hands behind his back and slowly walked out of Crouching Tiger Well.
He called a private sedan chair and returned to Chen Residence.
After dinner and medicinal bath, as usual, he pillowed on Wan Niang and fell asleep.
Late into the night, Chen Shun’an skillfully got up.
He arrived at Bajia Village, his figure vanishing into a patch of wasteland.
Instantly, ghost fires dotted about; in front of countless desolate graves and broken tiles, various stalls were set up.
Perhaps sensing Chen Shun’an was not to be trifled with, his aura obscure, the Ghost Market guards’ faces changed, hurriedly making way.
Some vendors waiting for buyers, hoping to hook a willing customer, couldn’t help calling out, inviting Chen Shun’an to browse their stalls.
However, Chen Shun’an didn’t dawdle, heading purposefully to a few stalls.
Zhao Guangxi planned to team up with Wuqing County’s major forces, including Wuguan Camp, to strike at Zhao Guanghui during tomorrow’s inauguration banquet.
Though numerous and with advantage on our side.
But after all, there exists the unknown immortal fate, this unstable factor.
Chen Shun’an still felt it somewhat unreliable, so two days ago he had already visited the Black Market once, preparing to sharpen his spear at the last moment by selecting suitable pills and utensils.
But with Chen Shun’an’s current discernment and strength, ordinary things didn’t catch his eye.
So after stating his needs, he had some Black Market stall owners help collect and keep an eye out.
Money makes ghosts push mills; this group of little ghosts naturally happy to help.
