Within the Withered Hall, an elderly man whose flesh was on the verge of rot sat perched high upon a stone dais.
He expounded grandly on the Withered Scripture, covering everything from the sun declining past noon to all things waning from their prime—all of which was encompassed within the scripture's true essence.
As he discoursed on the Dao and its texts, the aura of decrepitude upon him peaked, making it seem as if he might crumble into decay at any second and turn into a heap of dust on the floor.
The diseased tree behind him shifted in step with his words. Its green leaves yellowed, its bark fractured, until finally the lingering leaves withered away and the boughs were left bare—a withered tree.
Qin Ming was filled with astonishment. Though the elder resembled a vengeful ghost, he was by no means uttering gibberish. This was a profoundly important canonical text, well worth diligent study.
He suspected it might be related to the Withering and Thriving Classic he had longed for, perhaps spanning the greater half of it.
Qin Ming sat quietly on the prayer mat, silently committing the scripture to memory. Given his natural comprehension, though the Withered Scripture was exceedingly profound, he was still able to digest it.
He was not the only one seated in meditation. Densely packed figures sat around him, looking as though they hailed from different times and spaces; some were lost in deep contemplation, some scratched their ears and cheeks in frustration, and some let out bitter sighs.
Evidently, with the elder merely lecturing on the Withered Scripture once in this manner, many found it difficult to grasp its true essence.
The lecturer, whose dried skin clung tightly to his face, seemed quite surprised by Qin Ming's comprehension. His clouded, murky eyes shifted toward Qin Ming, and he bared his teeth in a smile.
Turning his head to smile like that was utterly chilling; a large chunk of withered, desiccated flesh nearly peeled away from his cheek, crumbling into flakes.
Qin Ming remained on guard throughout. This lecturer might very well turn into a malevolent spirit in the end and demand his life. How could obtaining scriptures come without a price?
"Just now, I expounded the fundamental canon of the Withered Scripture. By channeling the transitions of waxing and waning, evolving it to the highest plane, one can also obtain the Thriving Scripture."
The elder demonstrated the technique on the spot. His withered demeanor transformed in a flash; vitality began to surface in his rotting body, and behind him, the withered tree welcomed spring and revived alongside him.
He began preaching again, but Qin Ming could no longer hear anything. These textual mysteries were directed solely toward a portion of the indistinct figures seated upon the prayer mats.
Qin Ming was gripped by agonizing frustration; he was not among those permitted to hear this portion.
"Since no one can comprehend it, so be it." The elder abruptly halted. His body returned to its withered state, and the budding shoots about to sprout from the diseased tree were suppressed back into dormancy.
"Above withering and thriving, there is also the Waxing and Waning Scripture. If one can master it, what fear is there of attacking fiends and ghosts? One could travel freely anywhere under heaven."
Qin Ming was shaken to the core.
Judging by his tone, was this elder not of the same kind as the malevolent spirits lurking in the black mist?
At the same time, he committed the name "Waxing and Waning Scripture" to memory.
It went beyond the scope of peak wondrous arts like the Withering and Thriving Classic, representing an extension on a higher plane—a truly formidable secret canon.
The elder spoke of the origins of the phrase "waxing and waning": "As recorded in the Book of Changes, the sun declines past noon, the moon wanes after becoming full, and heaven and earth wax and wane..."
Evidently, the Waxing and Waning Scripture could rival the secret canon that followed the Yimu Scripture—the world-abiding scripture.
The world-abiding scripture still belonged to the domain of wood, whereas the Waxing and Waning Scripture was no longer confined to it.
Secretly, Qin Ming drew his mutton-fat jade iron saber. According to rumors, he had to be ready at any moment to engage in a life-or-death battle with this unfathomable old ghost!
Yet, after the lecture concluded, the elder made no move.
Qin Ming bowed, then backed out of the Withered Hall. Surprisingly, nothing happened at all.
Xiao Wu said, "Brother, is it because you're too weak, so he looked down on your scrawny meat?"
Still vigilant, Qin Ming backed away several hundred meters before saying, "Why must you speak such brutally honest nonsense!"
*Rumble!*
From the distance came a colossal commotion. Sand and stones flew; the cliff face of a stone mountain—a rare sight on the gravel wasteland—was bored through, shattering into massive blocks.
The two immediately took cover, intending to observe quietly.
However, in the next instant, their expressions changed. The dust and smoke were heading straight toward their area.
It was as if a colossal beast were whipping up a sky-blotting sandstorm across the desolate gravel wasteland.
The two turned and bolted, but the flying sand whipped against them from behind, submerging them.
At the same time, they caught the scent of blood. They saw a gray-haired elder rushing past their flank, divine wisdom swirling around him as he flicked the blood from his own body onto them.
Qin Ming and Xiao Wu were utterly unable to withstand it. Their protective lights were pierced, and sharp pain tore through their flesh.
"That old bastard wants to use us as scapegoats!"
The two realized in an instant that the elder was being pursued by a malevolent spirit and had dragged them down with him simply because he happened to encounter them along the way.
Behind them, the ground ruptured. A disheveled monster—humanoid in form, mere skin and bones like a corpse ghost—was striding forward in hot pursuit.
The two turned and fled toward the boundary of the gravel wasteland. As long as they exited the black mist zone and returned to the outside world, the malevolent spirit would not follow them out.
The monster's speed far exceeded their imagination; it was terrifyingly fast, skimming over the ground as if flying. In the blink of an eye, it was upon them. Its withered hand, wrapped in black light and swirling with mist, struck forward.
A muffled boom sounded like thunder on flat ground. Qin Ming didn't even have time to dodge. Struck by the sweep of black light, he was sent flying sideways, coughing up large mouthfuls of blood.
Moreover, his flesh ruptured, and his physical body came perilously close to blowing apart.
This made him feel the threat of death. It had been just a single glancing blow, not even a direct hit, yet it had grievously wounded him. This monster was at least in the third realm.
Xiao Wu screamed in agony as well. Even though they had fled in separate directions, he had still been struck, leaving him drenched in blood.
"The old bastard ahead is your target!" Qin Ming shouted.
Xiao Wu yelled as well, "Yeah! How much meat do the two of us even have? Our cultivation is pitifully low, not nearly enough to fill your stomach!"
Both were filled with seething hatred. By using them to stall for a moment, that old fellow who had dragged them into this mess truly stood a chance of escaping successfully, as the outside world was not far ahead.
They did not dare linger, coughing blood as they fled frantically.
The emaciated monster—with a mess of withered, yellowish hair like wild weeds, a stiff face, and hollow eyes—nonetheless locked onto them with lethal intent.
When the second sweep of black light struck, Qin Ming blocked with his mutton-fat jade iron saber. The weapon shuddered violently, and he was blasted flying by the black light as if struck by a falling mountain.
The flesh on both of Qin Ming's arms tore apart, and the hand holding the saber suffered compound fractures. Facing a third-realm monster, he had no power to retaliate.
"You..." Up ahead, the elder who had dragged them down shrieked in horror. He was intercepted by the nearly rotting lecturer.
From within the black mist came a bloodcurdling scream. The elder's body decayed at terrifying speed; right where he stood, his flesh peeled away and crumbled, and even his bones rotted, turning to dust in the wind.
Before dying, his agonized screams echoed across the entire area. His divine wisdom was drained like lamp oil, and his essence, qi, and spirit were completely absorbed and refined by the lecturer. He endured unimaginable torment.
At first, Qin Ming and Xiao Wu felt a burst of satisfaction, but immediately afterward, their hair stood on end. The lecturer was indeed far more terrifying.
Near them, the monster with withered, yellowish hair seemed seized by utter terror upon sensing the aura up ahead. In the end, it struck a palm toward each of the two youths, then turned and fled.
Even though Qin Ming used the flat of his mutton-fat jade iron saber to block and the rag to protect his head, he was still sent flying by the impact of the residual black light.
Furthermore, his body was rupturing. He felt this monster was even more formidable than the old woman from the Cui clan who had once nearly smashed him to pieces.
Recently, having achieved his ninth rebirth, his strength had surged dramatically, and he had defeated Cao Qianqiu in the same realm. He had felt full of youthful vigor and high spirits.
Yet the harsh reality promptly dealt him a brutal blow. There was no such thing as a fair fight in the same realm here; he was rapidly coming apart at the seams.
If not for his adhesive force, his body would have already scattered across the gravel wasteland, a piece here and a piece there.
As for his internal organs and the bones throughout his entire body, they were cracked and broken; his injuries were exceedingly severe.
Xiao Wu was screaming in pain as well, though his condition was better. The pendant hanging from his neck, carved with the likeness of his grandmother, emitted a mysterious glow that fended off the black light.
"Brother Ming, are you all right?" Xiao Wu rushed over swiftly. He knew his own situation—having cultivated for over a decade, he carried secrets of his own and was in no danger of dying.
He knew very well that Qin Ming had stepped onto the Newborn path less than a year ago. Taking such a blow from a third-realm expert should, by all rights, have meant certain death.
Yet Brother Ming hadn't exploded into pieces, which was remarkable in itself, hinting that he might still be saved.
"I'm fine, run!" Upon landing, Qin Ming stabilized his cracked body. Pale-faced, he looked behind Xiao Wu.
Xiao Wu glanced back, and his face instantly lost all color. He said, "Senior, the two of us aren't even enough to pick your teeth with. Our flesh, blood, and essence are pitifully meager—you wouldn't enjoy eating us at all."
The lecturing elder had approached without a sound and was now gazing at the two of them.
He looked at Qin Ming and said, "You comprehended the Withered Scripture in the shortest span of time. Very good. You may leave."
Then, he turned his gaze toward Xiao Wu, his aura growing perilous.
"Senior, I can comprehend it too!" Xiao Wu shouted at once.
The elder stared at the pendant on Xiao Wu's chest, studying it repeatedly, before finally saying, "You may leave as well."
By this point, the lecturer's condition had visibly improved. A faint spiritual vitality and lifeforce had returned to his flesh; he was no longer on the verge of rot, though he still looked as though he had just crawled out of Yin soil.
"Senior, what exactly is your state? Are you human or a ghost?" Qin Ming asked.
The elder spoke: "I was originally a disciple of Yingxu Palace. In pursuit of longevity, I strayed onto the wrong path and stepped onto the ghost path. Leave quickly, lest I prove unable to restrain myself from devouring your flesh and blood!"
Unlike ordinary malevolent spirits, his consciousness was remarkably clear upon just reviving.
The two spun around and bolted; how could they dare ask anything more?
Qin Ming left a bloody footprint with every step, staining the gravel ground red. Xiao Wu hurriedly supported him so he could focus entirely on tending to his injuries.
"Brothers, you two came out awfully fast!" In the outside world, someone who had spoken with them not long ago couldn't resist teasing when they saw them.
Neither was in the mood to reply. They rushed straight toward the city ahead, eager to find an inn to nurse their wounds.
Along the way, Xiao Wu fumed indignantly, "The rules those people summarized are completely useless! Once you encounter someone of a higher realm, you immediately become their cannon fodder. That damned old bastard was utterly shameless."
Qin Ming had practically turned into a gourd of blood. After managing to hold out until they reached the inn, he immediately devoted all his strength to healing. Fortunately, he had already resolved the latent perils of the silk book method; otherwise, it would have been another round of violent chaos, potentially costing him his life.
This time, healing with the newly mastered Golden Cicada Scripture could not have been more suitable.
The true essence of that scripture was to tear away the old shell, undergo tribulations and be reborn, seeking life amidst death—imbued with profound meditative meaning.
Within the Golden Cicada Scripture, there was lethal force used against enemies, but even more so, there was vital force beneficial to oneself, possessing boundless marvels.
Qin Ming recovered swiftly. As his flesh endured the tribulation, the hum of a cicada echoed within him. Life and death interchanged, his bones and muscles resonated in unison, and all his internal organs shone brilliantly.
After nine rebirths, how formidable was his constitution? After just one night, his injuries were largely under control.
After two nights, Qin Ming was even stronger than before. Reviving through this tribulation, his active strength flowed ceaselessly. In quiet contemplation, he brought about another transformation in his Golden Cicada force, reaching the absolute limit of what he could currently attain. Furthermore, he mastered the trump card recorded in this wondrous art—the Golden Cicada Transformation.
A golden cicada formed from heavenly light could flap its wings and strike an opponent within a limited distance, possessing traits such as the alternation of life and death, indestructible meditative charm, and a cicada hum like thunder.
At the same time, through this transformation of the golden cicada, Qin Ming caught sight of the endpoint of his Newborn path.
Over the past two days of cultivating the Golden Cicada Scripture, after his torn body healed and revived, wisps of warm flow surfaced once more within his flesh—the aura of rebirth.
In the depths of his perception, he sensed that his ninth rebirth was gathering momentum once again, and this would also be the final time, for he could vaguely see the gate leading to the Outer Sage.
Qin Ming had initially felt it was a pity, suspecting his ninth rebirth had concluded entirely.
Now that he saw things clearly, he felt that with his natural talent and an initial foundation even deeper than that of the founding patriarchs, reaching this stage made it all worthwhile.
Only mutants could achieve nine rebirths, yet upon that foundation, he had gathered momentum twice in succession, achieving a "relay rebirth" and pushing even further!
He had thoroughly understood his condition. In the coming days, he would undergo his final relay rebirth; at the same time, he intended to push the Indestructible Butterfly Scripture to grand completion.
*The five elemental wondrous arts plus the Dragon Snake Scripture, the Golden Cicada Scripture, and the Indestructible Butterfly Scripture—having mastered eight wondrous arts in the Newborn stage is good enough.*
He felt there was no need to force himself to cultivate a ninth wondrous art. He was already consummate; everything was just right.
The patriarchs of past generations had generally mastered around six wondrous arts in the Newborn stage before becoming Sky Shakers bolstered by the Three Imperials force. Qin Ming considered his current state more than sufficient.
Immediately after, a wistful sentiment arose within him. In the future, he would no longer be able to undergo rebirth. Starting from the Outer Sage, it would be an entirely new mode of cultivation, the path fraught with hardship and difficulty.
From the second realm onward, each major realm was broken down merely into early, middle, and late stages, plus an accumulation phase leading to perfection awaiting a breakthrough.
*Only by setting foot in the second realm will I truly draw close to those immortal seeds and divine seeds. I will attain it soon.* Looking back upon the path he had traveled in less than a year, Qin Ming felt that achieving this much was already more than enough!
Xiao Wu appeared and shared the latest news: "Brother Ming, those things aren't real malevolent spirits at all. They're living people from a certain path."
Several experts had captured some of the "malevolent spirits" to study them carefully, and had subsequently scoured various local ancient texts from Kunling, clarifying many details.
The so-called malevolent spirits were, in ancient times, evil cultivators whom everyone reviled. They devoured the flesh, blood, essence, qi, and spirit of other living beings, truly as ferocious as vengeful ghosts.
Hence, some also called them ghost cultivators, though they were by no means spiritual entities; they all possessed bodies of flesh and blood. Moreover, owing to the nature of this path, their lifespans were rather long.
In pursuit of longevity, some experts from other paths could not resist voluntarily switching to the ghost path in their twilight years.
The ghost path was one of the evil paths most despised by people in ancient times. It had incited widespread fury, ultimately leading to a joint crusade by numerous factions.
"In that case, the earlier speculations outside were inaccurate and untrustworthy. Those near-rotting malevolent spirits who devour outsiders aren't trying to find scapegoats to take their place, but are simply trying to recover?"
Xiao Wu nodded. "That's right. According to records, their ancestral court was sealed within Yin soil and buried beneath a certain part of Kunling. Now, they've broken through the seal."
Those walking the ghost path were in no rush to emerge because their current conditions were exceedingly dire, and they still relied on the nourishment of the Yin soil.
The bone-chilling cold of the Yin soil allowed those fiends to slumber for long periods. After being sealed for so long, they had still not perished entirely, and now they had reemerged into the night mist world.
Furthermore, to investigate the past, the major traditions had scoured dozens of miscellaneous books such as the Kunling Records of Godlike Beings and Lands Bordering Immortals, arriving at part of the truth.
In the region of Kunling, there were at least nine perils, and the Yin soil where the practitioners of the ghost path resided was one of them.
Xiao Wu informed him, "There are even more perils than the nine we thought. In the earliest times, they were actually a single whole, but as the primordial Kunling shattered, every fragment became a peril."
These were the recent findings of the great sects.
Moreover, they believed those patriarchs were likely not dead; rather, during the great battle, they had somehow inadvertently opened certain seals and become temporarily trapped.
The current situation was exceptionally grim.
Everyone agreed that they had to establish contact with the missing patriarchs and seal this region as quickly as possible. If even more perils emerged, the consequences would be unimaginable.
"In the past, godlike entities and near-immortal creatures unsealed all the sealed lands in an attempt to draw close to the legendary Yujing. But when facing that city, an accident befell them, and they hastily sealed Kunling before fleeing far away."
Hearing this, Qin Ming completely understood the contents of the Kunling Records of Godlike Beings. Those past events actually held such hidden truths.
Immediately, he grew grim, taking a sharp breath of the night mist. The mistake the patriarchs had inadvertently committed at this stage was tantamount to treading the very same path once walked by those godlike entities and near-immortal creatures!
If Yujing were to reemerge this time, heaven only knew what might happen.
After all, even the legendary creatures of old had fled.
Qin Ming believed that even with the cultivation of trailblazing patriarchs, sealing the Kunling region a second time would be a near-impossible feat.
Chapter 225