Chapter 180: Corpse Decomposition Method, Supreme Yin Refines The Form
Liu Qingyi heard this and nodded, saying, “Alright.”
Although Lu Jing’s realm was slightly inferior to Liu Qingyi’s.
Liu Qingyi had not yet slain the Mind Thief, so in sensing Heaven and Earth and discerning Qi, he was truly not as good as Lu Jing.
Therefore, even Liu Qingyi acquiesced to Lu Jing’s judgment at this time.
The crowd naturally had no objections.
“We can only do this.”
Zhao Guangxi sheathed his long sword, only feeling his shoulder still faintly aching.
Qiu Chen glanced at his own lame leg, eroded by Yin Sha Qi to the bone, his face somewhat gloomy, and could only silently acquiesce.
Then, various orders were issued like flowing water.
Several True Intent Masters approached suspiciously but also stopped at the foot of the hill.
The current Tuzi’s Hill was hardly a hill anymore; it was barren, not even a decent tree stump to be seen.
Cannonball craters were everywhere, and the residual power of intent, even after so much time, had not yet dissipated.
Ordinary birds and beasts that could run had long fled.
Those that couldn’t run had been scared to death alive.
The terrain here at Tuzipo had been completely changed, and for a long time, it would probably be barren of grass.
The great battle that occurred tonight truly opened the crowd’s eyes.
Especially those low-realm True Intent Masters who had only slain one or two thieves; their minds swayed, filled with longing.
Their gazes toward Lu Jing, Zhao Guangxi, and Qiu Chen were full of awe.
And looking at Liu Qingyi, it was even more like seeing gods and demons!
If slaying five thieves was already like this, what about slaying six thieves to perfection, or even a Martial Dao Grandmaster?
Many thought of this, and their hearts burned with eagerness, wishing they could immediately transform and achieve the position of Martial Dao Grandmaster.
Leaving aside the True Intent Masters’ moods, as if injected with chicken blood.
Having received orders from Zhao Guangxi and the others, they immediately gathered a group of second-rate martial artists and issued the orders.
Then these second-rate warriors went to Banye Ferry Crossing and temporarily drafted a group of third-rate warriors.
Thus, second-rate martial artists supervised, and third-rate warriors labored.
Pushing wooden board carts loaded with thick ropes and wooden signs hanging “No Entry for the Living” markers.
They also cut down bowl-thick tree trunks from other hills, barring them across both ends of the Tuzi Hill road, nailing wooden stakes and tying on hemp ropes soaked in tung oil, presenting a fully sealed mountain appearance.
The crowd bustled about energetically.
Yet they did not notice a barely perceptible figure quietly arriving at the edge of the deep pit.
Chen Shun’an cautiously reached out, touching a wisp of malign Qi.
His fingertip felt no burning pain; the malign Qi circled his palm and then dissipated without a trace.
In the eyes of Lu Jing, Liu Qingyi, and the others, this extremely tricky Yin Sha Qi that even they dared not risk their bodies against was toyed with by Chen Shun’an at will, unable to harm him.
Like a hen hatching eggs, like a cat catching a mouse.
Invulnerable to yin chill, untainted by evil malignance.
This was the profound mystery of slaying five thieves unique to Chen Shun’an.
“I thought this was a ability that came with advancing in the Martial Path realm, but Liu Qingyi seems not to possess it… Could it be related to Chen Mou’s Tiger Tendon Leopard Vein and Mud Pill opening? Or perhaps both?”
Thus, Chen Shun’an’s eyes lit up. Using the night and malign Qi for cover, he silently slipped into the cave, his figure instantly swallowed by black mist.
What is poison to them is nectar to me.
The Yin Sha Qi in this deep pit could not block Chen Shun’an in the slightest.
Moreover, even if that Zhao Guanghui was still alive, severely injured by Liu Qingyi and the others together, how much strength could he have left?
Eliminating harm for the people, Chen Shun’an could not shirk!
And after Chen Shun’an entered the deep pit.
“Eldest Brother Lu, are you alright?”
Yun Ruo strode forward with her pair of straight long legs, quickly arriving before Lu Jing, her face full of worry.
Lu Jing sat cross-legged on the ground, his face normal, nodding as he said,
“Don’t worry, I’m fine.”
It was fine if Lu Jing didn’t say this, but once he did, Yun Ruo, who knew Lu Jing’s character extremely well, knew immediately that Lu Jing was just holding on.
Yun Ruo’s voice trembled slightly as she said,
“Wait here, I’ll go back to Tongzhou City and invite Imperial Physician Master Zhong Yuan to treat you.”
“Yun Ruo…”
Watching the determined graceful figure who insisted on going despite his futile attempts to stop her, resolutely turning to leave.
Lu Jing’s raised hand ultimately lowered.
“Sigh…”
He grunted dully, his Qi and Blood in disorder, even showing signs of losing control.
He quickly closed his eyes to regulate his breathing, circulating Qi and Blood through the complete cycle.
The cold moon hung high, frost light pouring down.
The clamor gradually dispersed, the crowd leaving one after another.
The warriors guarding the mountain road entrance wrapped their cotton clothes tightly, hugging their blades as they dozed against wooden stakes.
Tonight, it was Lu Jing’s turn to guard.
And unbeknownst how much time passed.
From the soil still stained with dark brown bloodstains, slender trickling golden threads suddenly flowed, streaming as if with consciousness.
Slightly discerning direction, they crawled toward Lu Jing, who was healing with closed eyes.
Then from behind him, they wound upward; even with Lu Jing’s intent, he was completely unaware.
The golden threads instantly drilled into Lu Jing’s seven orifices.
Lu Jing, immersed in circulating Qi and Blood, suddenly stiffened all over and spat out a mouthful of black blood.
The wounds hidden under his clothes actually healed at a visible speed, his face turning from pale to flushed.
His entire aura not only did not weaken but rose steadily, advancing considerably.
Lu Jing opened his eyes somewhat puzzled, but then felt that his injuries healing and even progressing further was natural and not strange.
So he paid it no more mind.
Continuing to cultivate silently.
……
Thump,
Thump,
Thump…
Footsteps echoed in the surging Yin Sha Qi, sounding especially clear in the deep pit.
Rustling sounds gathered from all directions.
Immediately after, a red light streaked through the air toward him.
Chen Shun’an’s expression unchanged, he merely sidestepped slightly. The malign Qi, enough to pierce copper walls and iron fortresses, grazed his shoulder, then stagnated behind him, split, twisted into a clawing form, poised to pounce.
And nearby, new Yin Sha Qi reared like venomous snakes, poised to strike.
Chen Shun’an’s peripheral vision swept the churning malign Qi beside him. His wrist flipped, long sword drawn, tip quivering lightly, eyes following the sword as he gently pointed forward.
Bang!
This sword seemed casual, yet like an immortal pointing the way, stirring invisible ripples in the disordered malign land.
The pouncing malign Qi suddenly caved in as if struck hard, thinning greatly, flying back, and even the swirling vortex of malign Qi in that direction scattered together.
Chen Shun’an then swung his sword vigorously, Flying Immortal Strength wrapped within.
Boom!
As if swept by invisible tides, it rumbled outward, the dense malign Qi around him instantly thinning by half, the remaining scattered strands hovering, no longer daring to approach.
At this moment, Chen Shun’an truly resembled a swordsman immersed in Sword Dao for decades.
Soon, Chen Shun’an descended with sword in hand to the blood pool in the underground palace.
The dome had collapsed halfway; this architectural complex was already in ruins.
Pillar tops broken, foundation pierced by fallen boulders, barely revealing the pond bottom of the dried blood pool, and scattered corpses.
“Strange, where’s the treasure?”
Chen Shun’an muttered puzzledly twice, his voice echoing with lingering tones in this Yin Sha land, layering into eerie desolation.
He rummaged around eagerly, eyes full of greed.
Finally, in the collapsed underground palace, in an unremarkable corner beside a corpse, he found a thumb-sized white pill emitting unique ghostly light.
Gazing at it, it felt extraordinary, like dragon scripts and phoenix patterns, various talismans swimming on it, sometimes turning into a clearly shelled, shriveled-fleshed Cicada Molt Yin Plate.
“What a treasure! My immortal fate, so you’re here!”
Seeing this, Chen Shun’an’s eyes burst with intense light, immediately reaching out.
And as expected, a change suddenly occurred.
A sharp, yin-cold power of intent abruptly stabbed out from this white pill. Before it could touch Chen Shun’an’s glabella, he sensed it almost prophetically, hairs standing on end, instincts warning.
The intent power accumulated in his mind like an ocean surged with thunder, as if provoked, ready to tear apart this incoming power of intent.
Suppressing the ocean of intent in his mind.
Chen Shun’an’s index finger moved lightly, wielding his sword like weaving, hooking and thrusting over a dozen times, then grunting dully, hastily retreating several zhang, barely repelling that sharp yin-cold power of intent.
And that power of intent whooshed back in an arc.
Whoosh!
The Pearl-Containing Miasma-Averting Pill hanging at Chen Shun’an’s waist was fiercely torn apart.
However, the surrounding pervasive Yin Sha Qi seemed oblivious, still not approaching or eroding Chen Shun’an.
“Eh? You are actually unaffected by Yin Sha? Strange.”
A voice unlike that of modern people, with accent and wording habits leaning toward ancients from hundreds of years ago, rang in Chen Shun’an’s ear.
Carrying a bit of surprise.
Chen Shun’an was shocked and uncertain, his throat bobbing.
“Who are you?”
“My name is long forgotten; you can think of me as the spirit of the Undying Molting Insect Solution.”
The ethereal voice rose, carrying a touch of melancholy and vicissitudes.
Spirit?
Chen Shun’an seemed to understand, saying,
“Are you a cultivator?”
“Cultivating Immortality… heh heh, rare that you have such insight, not calling me an immortal. Correct, once, I was a cultivator, cultivating the Corpse Decomposition Method, the Extreme Yin Body Refining Art…”
Chen Shun’an heard this, his face showing some panic, and also a trace of anticipation and longing upon encountering a cultivator.
Chen Shun’an softened his voice: “Then Senior, can you teach me the method of cultivating immortality?”
“Of course, come forward and grasp this Undying Molting Insect Solution, and I will read your bones, test your fate, and weigh your Immortal Root.”
Chen Shun’an’s face showed joy, but his feet remained still, merely asking further,
“Oh? Does cultivating immortality also require an Immortal Root, just like practicing martial arts requires aptitude? If I may be bold, dare I ask Senior, from which famous mountain do you hail, where did you attain the Dao, what arts do you typically wield? I once obtained a scripture whose meaning I don’t understand; please, Immortal Master, explain… Existing before Heaven and Earth, formless and inherently desolate, master of myriad phenomena, not withering with the four seasons…”
The ‘spirit’ did not expect Chen Shun’an to have so many questions, falling silent without answering, only urging Chen Shun’an to quickly grasp the Undying Molting Insect Solution.
Seeing the ‘spirit’s’ reaction, Chen Shun’an sighed, saying ethereally,
“No need to play tricks… Zhao Guanghui.”
“Mistaken.”
The ‘spirit’ realized suddenly, saying: “So you thought I was disguised by that vulgar man? Look…”
With that, the Undying Molting Insect Solution trembled lightly on its own, chiming, transforming into a Cicada Molt Yin Plate.
Shell valves opening and closing, revealing a phantom from within.
It was a human figure, wearing bright red Daoist robes embroidered with black and white Yin Yang fish, waist tied with multicolored cords, truly immortal-boned and Daoist-auraed, an immortal among gods.
“You are quite suspicious by nature. That vulgar Zhao Guanghui has long had his soul scattered, deader than dead… That fool had no Immortal Root, could only crudely sacrificial refine this treasure; truly a pearl cast in darkness.”
The Daoist’s expression was calm, without joy or sorrow.
“This body lacks Immortal Bone; even meeting a true immortal, seek not in vain. Come closer; if you have Immortal Bone, I will guide you to the Immortal Path. In future, longevity without death—what joy not to hasten?”
“So that’s it, then please, Immortal Master, read my bones!”
Chen Shun’an now completely dispelled the doubts in his heart.
