Shi Jian: Perhaps You Truly Possess an Innate Dao-Body Holy Embryo

"Far from it! Your master is busy teaching the new thunder art to your martial uncles and your martial brothers. Besides, this time he accidentally injured two junior martial brothers and three fellow Daoists..." The speaker was not Shi Jian, but Perfected Tianning, who chimed in with a chuckle. Shi Jian raised a fist to his mouth and cleared his throat in awkward embarrassment. He truly wanted to explain that he had never expected those fellow cultivators to be so fragile. He had clearly held back his power at the time. As for the strength of his fellow sect members— Well, the less said, the better. "Did anyone die?" Four-Eyed Daoist's eyes went wide at her words. He had seen Shi Jian fight before; he hadn't forgotten the battle against the royal jiangshi. Back then, when Shi Jian used the art of substituting his own mind for Heaven's mind, two streaks of lightning had erupted from his pupils. In an instant, Four-Eyed Daoist imagined all sorts of horrifying scenes. He felt the five fellow Daoists were probably in pieces by now... No, wait, they probably weren't even that intact! Could they have already undergone thunder-liberation? Four-Eyed Daoist couldn't help wondering in his heart. "Nobody died, of course. Just a few missing arms and legs. Don't worry, your martial uncle has already helped graft them back on..." Perfected Tianning chuckled. Seeing Four-Eyed Daoist clicking his tongue in horror, she found his ugly face dull to look at, so she turned her gaze toward Liu Xiu, whose calm expression made him much more pleasing to the eye. Say what you will, A handsome boy really was easy on the eyes! Except handsome boys were all heartbreakers! Thinking of a certain heartless scoundrel who deserved a thousand cuts, Perfected Tianning's gaze immediately turned a bit colder as she looked at Liu Xiu. Liu Xiu's expression remained completely unchanged. Inwardly, he simply figured the old lady was going through menopause. Shi Jian watched helplessly as Perfected Tianning aired his embarrassing secrets, her mood flipping back and forth on a whim. After a moment's thought, Shi Jian shifted his gaze straight to Four-Eyed Daoist. Four-Eyed Daoist felt his vision blur, and just like Shi Shaojian, his sight was shut off from the scene. "???" Fine, so I'm an outsider now! Four-Eyed Daoist curled his lip and walked aside. Across the water screen, Shi Jian turned his head toward Perfected Tianning beside him. "You master and disciple can take your time chatting..." Suddenly finding Liu Xiu not only unpleasing to the eye but outright obnoxious, Perfected Tianning spoke flatly, her figure vanishing the moment the words left her mouth. "..." ×2 *Yep, that's a woman for you!* ×2 Master and disciple exchanged a glance, intuitively understanding what the other meant. Feeling it improper to gossip about their elders, Shi Jian raised a fist to cough, immediately channeling the Primordial Concealment-Form Art. Once he confirmed that both he and Liu Xiu were veiled by the Primordial Concealment-Form Art, Shi Jian finally extended his hand, formed a sword-finger gesture, and tapped toward Liu Xiu's forehead across the water screen. With that tap, a wisp of golden light flew out from the water screen and sank into the space between Liu Xiu's brows. Liu Xiu heard Shi Jian transmit his voice: "These are two of the seven Earth Fiend divine abilities your master obtained during this journey. The first is named Divine Traveling, and the second is Wind Riding. Cultivate them diligently..." Saying so, Shi Jian tapped a finger again. A Daoist robe no larger than a grain of rice sank into Liu Xiu's glabella. "This is a primordial-spirit treasure, the Shangqing Primordial Radiance True-Spirit-Protecting Robe. It will keep your primordial spirit immortal. Even if you suffer an unexpected physical death, it will aid your escape..." Naturally, there was a limit to this preservation of the primordial spirit, but Shi Jian figured Liu Xiu wouldn't be so terribly unlucky. "These are some elixirs, Daoist scriptures, and ritual implements that you can put to use in your current cultivation..." Shi Jian took out several medicinal pills and other items, passing them through the water screen to Liu Xiu, before continuing his voice transmission: "There are also certain items that are unsuitable for your current realm and strength to use..." As he spoke, perhaps afraid Liu Xiu might overthink things, he emphasized: "Your master is merely holding onto them for you for the time being. Rest assured, what is yours remains yours, including the five Earth Fiend divine abilities I have not yet taught you..." Shi Jian spoke that last sentence with immense gravity, seemingly anxious that Liu Xiu might misunderstand. He even deliberately brought out the remaining items for Liu Xiu to see. As the saying went, biting off more than one could chew led to ruin; being a master of one was far better than being a jack-of-all-trades. He himself had only practiced a few divine abilities, so Liu Xiu, whose innate talent was somewhat lower, needed to heed this even more—especially since Liu Xiu was cultivating the Seventy-Two Earth Fiend Divine Abilities, which were slightly higher in difficulty. "Disciple understands..." Liu Xiu put the items into his storage thumb ring. Although he would have loved for Shi Jian to hand over the remaining five Earth Fiend arts as well, He knew Shi Jian definitely wouldn't give them to him! It wasn't because Shi Jian would embezzle them or anything of the sort, but rather because Shi Jian was more stubborn than the most rigid patriarch imaginable. He simply wouldn't listen to Liu Xiu, especially regarding matters of cultivation. The thought flashed by in an instant, and Liu Xiu curiously asked Shi Jian, "By the way, Master, has there been an outcome regarding Daoist Zhiheng?" "There is an outcome. The lightning strike was indeed an accident. Someone was plotting against Zhiheng. If nothing goes amiss, it should be that Daoist grandmaster who secretly cast arts trying to use the lives of Qianhe and the others to help me overcome one of the Nine Tribulations!" At this point, Shi Jian's expression turned frigid. Glancing at the frowning Liu Xiu, his face softened slightly as he added, "Furthermore, I have already reported this matter to the ancestral masters. At the same time, your Martial Grand-Aunt Tianning is helping investigate. She has already locked onto several fellow Daoists and seniors. If there are no results soon, your master will simply pay them a visit at their doorsteps one by one!" Shi Jian's tone was icy. Liu Xiu nodded in understanding, inwardly imagining what that 'visit at their doorsteps' would look like. Well, things would probably be quite dazzling when the time came! As Liu Xiu pondered, Shi Jian casually mentioned that the new thunder art hadn't just been submitted to Maoshan; it had also been passed to other Daoist sects. "It wasn't passed on for free, was it?" Liu Xiu asked. Shi Jian rolled his eyes. As always, he truly couldn't fathom why Liu Xiu kept assuming his master desires of the upper corpse had been severed! "Their items will take a while to arrive!" Shi Jian explained. However, he left one sentence unsaid: after this affair, even if Liu Xiu cultivated all the way to the realm of Refining Void and Merging with the Dao, he would never have to worry about ordinary resources again. "Oh, good, good, that's a relief! I was worried... hehe!" Liu Xiu gave an embarrassed laugh, not finishing the thought. Then, he began to tell Shi Jian about the talent he had gained upon stepping into the realm of Refining Essence into Qi: 'Concentrate qi to attain gentleness, can one be like an infant?' Naturally, Liu Xiu didn't mention the original host's strand of Innate Pure Qi. After all, in his eyes, that was him as well. It was all him, So what was there to explain! When Liu Xiu brought up 'Concentrate qi to attain gentleness, can one be like an infant?', Shi Jian felt profoundly gratified that his disciple chose to confide in him. At the same time, his spirits lifted, and he reached his hand across the water screen. Shi Jian grasped Liu Xiu's wrist and began to inspect him. The moment he did, he froze, staring blankly at Liu Xiu. For a moment, he sounded somewhat uncertain. "Your... your spiritual power is cultivating on its own?" "Yes, and that's not all. My spiritual power currently recovers faster than I spend it. In any case, every test I ran turned out that way!" Liu Xiu answered. Today, he had tested many high-consumption spells, and without exception, none could empty his mana bar. In other words, the mana consumption of the skills he currently possessed couldn't keep up with his recovery rate. This was why he had added the note 'Effect Two: Power Generates Itself.' Aside from the original annotation 'When power generates itself, circulate the primordial qi dynamism,' the effect of this second trait was literal. His spiritual power now cultivated automatically according to his intent; there was no longer any need to sit in meditation to cultivate spiritual power. To sum it up in a single phrase: He had acquired an idle-farming auto-cultivation state! "Good! Good! Good!" Shi Jian uttered the word three times in succession. A smile appeared on his face—one that had become slightly less stiff because he had smiled more in recent days than in the past several decades combined. "There's more besides this..." Liu Xiu began. He had inspected himself many times throughout the day. It couldn't be helped; the attribute panel he had hand-crafted with the Golden Light Divine Incantation lacked an automatic scanning function. Yet Shi Jian withdrew his hand and shook his head. "Enough. There is no need to speak of it further." "Understood." Realizing Shi Jian meant that walls had ears, Liu Xiu nodded without pressing the matter. He merely asked out of curiosity, "Master, does this count as an innate Dao-body?" "Hmm... it does!" Shi Jian pondered for a moment. Then, forcing a stiff smile onto his face, he looked at Liu Xiu and said, "Perhaps you truly possess an Innate Dao-Body Holy Embryo!" "..." *Master, that joke isn't funny!* The corner of Liu Xiu's mouth twitched. He nodded, roughly grasping what Shi Jian meant: the talent 'Concentrate qi to attain gentleness, can one be like an infant?' seemed even stronger than an innate Dao-body! *Wait... could I really be an Innate Dao-Body Holy Embryo?* Thoughts churned in Liu Xiu's mind. Master and disciple chatted a bit more about matters of cultivation, and Shi Jian imparted several spells that he deemed Liu Xiu capable of practicing. "Whoa, Master, you even know Qi Men Dun Jia? Master, you're awesome!" Liu Xiu gave a thumbs-up, looking thoroughly shocked and full of admiration. "Mm!" As always, This disciple really knew how to say the right things! Shi Jian tilted his chin up slightly, taking on a bit of Shi Shaojian's habit of looking down his nose at people. But that upward glance happened to catch sight of Shi Shaojian. Irritation surged over him in an instant. The lifted chin and the smile on Shi Jian's face vanished simultaneously as his eyes narrowed. The next instant! Outside, Four-Eyed Daoist—whose vision was blocked—saw a streak of blazing white lightning shoot out from the water screen, striking the cross-legged, meditating Shi Shaojian with a sharp whoosh. As for Shi Shaojian, he merely opened his eyes with a resolute expression, caught the white lightning in his right hand without so much as a grunt, and closed his eyes again to continue meditating. *Gulp—* Four-Eyed Daoist swallowed hard. Moreover, he suddenly felt that Shi Shaojian actually resembled Eldest Senior Martial Brother quite a bit. At the very least, if he had taken a shock like that, he would have definitely screamed out loud! Meanwhile, Shi Shaojian's thoughts were extraordinarily simple! *Pain, pain, pain!* *It hurts so much!* *Just you wait, you old bastard! I'll prove that I'm your strongest disciple!* Shi Shaojian frantically circulated the Shangqing Jade Pivot Palm-Thunder Secret Instruction and the Hegemon Body Three-Light Primordial Magnetism Art. In an instant, the progress of both skyrocketed. Watching his Gui Water Yin Thunder thunder seed advance from fifty to sixty percent in mere minutes, And seeing his Hegemon Body Three-Light Primordial Magnetism Art on the verge of touching the threshold of minor mastery, realization dawned in his heart. *Huh? Did my state of mind just now align with my Hegemon Body? If so...* Shi Shaojian opened his eyes and glared back toward the water screen, which had been blurred by the Primordial Concealment-Form Art. Agony, grievance, rage... Pain, pain, pain... It hurt so much! Thinking of how that old bastard treated the new disciple better than his own son, Shi Shaojian snorted coldly at the incoming streak of blazing white lightning. Reaching out directly to catch it, he roared inwardly: *Hegemon Body... break through for me!* The Hegemon Body didn't break through, but Shi Shaojian felt the progress of both the Shangqing Jade Pivot Palm-Thunder Secret Instruction and the Hegemon Body Three-Light Primordial Magnetism Art climbing madly, causing the corners of his mouth to curl up in satisfaction. *Just you wait, old bastard,* *I will prove myself...* "..." *I take back my earlier assessment!* *He... is actually pretty impressive!* Four-Eyed Daoist swallowed dryly as he watched Shi Shaojian persist in cultivating his thunder art even while smoke rose from his palm. Recalling the grin Shi Shaojian wore while being electrocuted, Four-Eyed Daoist inexplicably felt a twinge of fear! Liu Xiu and Shi Jian paid none of this any mind. The two simply continued chatting. Shi Jian asked curiously, "How did you cultivate this talent?" "Actually, it didn't really involve cultivating. When stepping into the realm of Refining Essence into Qi, I was simply pondering the phrase 'Concentrate qi to attain gentleness, can one be like an infant?' Afterwards, it just turned out like this..." Liu Xiu told the truth. When sweeping the yard, he had indeed been pondering that sentence. After all, of all the things Shi Jian had told him regarding the realm of Refining Essence into Qi, only this phrase came from the Daodejing. He thought the line sounded awesome, So he had instinctively kept it in mind! "..." *To be frank,* *I think you're lying to your master!* The thought arose in Shi Jian's mind, yet he felt there was no reason for Liu Xiu to deceive him. After some thought, he figured Liu Xiu must simply possess an extraordinary constitution. The two talked a bit more about matters of cultivation. Liu Xiu took the opportunity to ask how divine abilities ought to be cultivated, to which Shi Jian answered, "Comprehend them on your own," before ending the call. Right before hanging up, Shi Jian pointedly reminded Liu Xiu once more that he must inform him the moment he met Lin Fengjiao. He also brought out an alchemy furnace capable of shifting its size at will and handed it to Liu Xiu, leaving Liu Xiu somewhat baffled. *Is he telling me to refine myself?* Holding the fist-sized alchemy furnace, Liu Xiu pondered the matter and figured Shi Jian probably meant exactly that. Otherwise, he couldn't imagine why Shi Jian would suddenly give him a furnace. Concocting pills? He was his own furnace! Surely it wasn't for cooking? Hmm? Would cooking with this thing make the food glow? Various thoughts flashed through his mind. Liu Xiu put away the furnace and watched the water screen dissolve into droplets, splashing onto the ground. He turned his head toward Shi Shaojian, who was seated cross-legged on the dirt, cultivating furiously. *Strange. Why does my senior brother's Hegemon Body Three-Light Primordial Magnetism Art feel so bizarre... Does he really possess a Hegemon Body?* Liu Xiu thought it odd mainly because he sensed an overbearing aura radiating from Shi Shaojian, accompanied by baffling negative emotions like rage and anguish. *Uh, fine, I get it!* Realizing Shi Shaojian probably thought Shi Jian was giving him special private coaching, Liu Xiu felt utterly speechless. Then, sensing something, he glanced toward a large tree beside the road, before saying to Four-Eyed Daoist and Shi Shaojian: "Martial Uncle, Senior Brother, I'm going to take a leak..." "Mm, go ahead!" Four-Eyed Daoist, seated on a roadside boulder while browsing the Hegemon Body Three-Light Primordial Magnetism Art that Shi Jian had passed into his mind, nodded in response. Shi Shaojian opened his eyes in confusion. But when he saw a droplet of dew carrying the aura of the Thousand-Li Voice Transmission technique trailing beside Liu Xiu as Liu Xiu hurried into the depths of the woods, his eyes instantly widened. *Private coaching again!* *And you're trying to hide it from me!* *Outrageous! Old bastard, you bully me too much!* Shi Shaojian clenched his fists and shut his eyes, madly driving the two techniques. He stood by his oath: he would prove himself! "..." *I take back everything I said before!* *Actually, you really do take after my eldest senior brother!* *Except...* Four-Eyed Daoist looked at Shi Shaojian with a bizarre expression, recalling the various faces the young man had just made. Instinctively, He edged a little further away from Shi Shaojian! Liu Xiu, having reached the depths of the woods, knew nothing of this. He merely feigned surprise as he looked at A-Yan, who had connected with him one-on-one via the Thousand-Li Voice Transmission. "Why are you alone?" "What, who were you thinking of? My eldest senior sister, or my youngest junior sister?" A-Yan asked with a bright smile. Liu Xiu furrowed his brow. "I told you, my heart is devoted solely to the Dao!" "Is that so? I don't buy it..." "Hmm? You sound awfully strange!" Liu Xiu feigned confusion. A few minutes later, he ended the Thousand-Li Voice Transmission with A-Yan and picked up the incoming call from Bai Min'er. A few minutes after that: *Thank goodness I'm a master of time management...* Watching Bai Min'er hang up, Liu Xiu felt the ping from Caiyi's Thousand-Li Voice Transmission. Accepting the call, he asked: "Hmm? Why are you alone?" "Hmm? Were you hoping to see my eldest senior sister, or my second senior sister?" Caiyi's delicate brows knitted slightly. Liu Xiu frowned. "I told you, my heart is devoted solely to the Dao!" Deploying the exact same script once more, Liu Xiu watched Caiyi curl her small lips. Pretending not to care, she asked, "By the way, did they... I mean, did my senior sisters contact you?" "They did, but I misread their auras at first and thought it was... ahem, I broke through!" Liu Xiu coughed, abruptly changing the subject. "Thought it was who? Out with it!" Always adept at seizing on the crucial detail, Caiyi's lovely eyes lit up as she began pressing him. Liu Xiu, having deliberately led her to seize on it, raised a fist to his mouth and coughed. "I broke through!" "You haven't answered my question yet!" The chat continued, and Liu Xiu answered as before. Since he had already answered these questions twice, the responses rolled off his tongue with ease. A few minutes later, he administered his routine preemptive strike: "Honestly, it's only because of you; otherwise, I wouldn't even bother talking to them. Ahem, don't misunderstand, I just feel the two of us get along especially well..." "Mm-hmm, me too!" "By the way, do your two senior sisters have a crush on me? I always feel like they look at me strangely!" "I don't know!" Caiyi frowned, a displeased pout appearing on her little face as she glared at Liu Xiu. "Why are you suddenly telling me this?" "I'm afraid you'll misunderstand!" "Why would I misunderstand..." Caiyi's pretty face flushed crimson. After a few more words with Liu Xiu, proving the old adage that a maiden's blush reveals everything, she ended the Thousand-Li Voice Transmission. Liu Xiu smoothly took out the white jade cicada slough to initiate private-chat mode, whispering softly, "Caiyi, why are you going to sleep so early today?" Listening to the intentionally leveled breathing and racing heartbeat on the other end, Liu Xiu feigned regret: "Alright then, good night. By the way, I'm currently helping my martial uncle drive corpses along the road..." Having applied his 'I'm very busy' patch for the third time, Liu Xiu put the white jade cicada slough back into his storage thumb ring and mentally reviewed what he had just said. Yep, delivered flawlessly! All the necessary patches had been properly installed! *As expected of me...* Liu Xiu walked over to a boulder beside a large tree to relieve himself. It couldn't be helped; his urine was still laced with toxin. He couldn't go fertilizing the plants just yet! *Won't be long now, though. By my count, a few more days will be enough to purge most of the elixir toxin, provided I don't ingest any more metallic or mineral medicinal ingredients during this time...* Finishing his business, Liu Xiu fastened his belt and inspected his body thoughtfully. Using a water spell to wash his hands, Liu Xiu strolled back toward Four-Eyed Daoist and Shi Shaojian while browsing the two obscure, difficult Earth Fiend divine abilities in his mind. Before long, Liu Xiu returned to their spot, only to find the scene rather bizarre: not only was Shi Shaojian still cultivating, but Four-Eyed Daoist was also seated on a rock, deep in meditation. Even the Black Jiangshi, carrying the soul-calling lamp against its chest, was gazing up at the moon, drawing in wisps of Moonlight Essence that were invisible to ordinary mortals. "..." *You guys are way too competitive!* *Luckily, I'm even more competitive than you!* Having studied the Earth Fiend divine abilities the whole way back, Liu Xiu sighed inwardly. He didn't disturb the two, simply walking between the line of walking corpses and the Black Jiangshi, where he unfolded his small stool and sat down. Time slipped by. Soon, a quarter of an hour passed. Liu Xiu realized divine abilities truly lived up to their name: the difficulty was immense. He hadn't managed to understand them yet, which was quite absurd. *It's probably due to a lack of foundational knowledge...* Liu Xiu pondered. Giving up on comprehending the two Earth Fiend divine abilities he had already memorized by heart, he glanced at the two men who were still meditating. He sank his mind into his purple palace, looking at the Shangqing Primordial Radiance True-Spirit-Protecting Robe drifting there, which he had not yet put on. Though called a robe, Liu Xiu's inspection revealed it was simply a Daoist garment whose style could be easily transformed. Letting his consciousness replace his nascent primordial spirit, Liu Xiu donned the robe and began shifting its appearance. In the end, after turning it purple, he changed it to green. It couldn't be helped; a purple robe wasn't something he was qualified to wear at his current stage. Even though no one could enter his purple palace! Still, Liu Xiu had always respected his teachers and revered the Dao; he would never entertain such treacherous, master-defying thoughts. Ending his excursion into the purple palace, he returned to reality. Confirming that Four-Eyed Daoist and Shi Shaojian were still cultivating, he retrieved one of the Daoist scriptures Shi Jian had given him from his storage thumb ring and began reading. *Huh, annotated by Perfected Tianning? Does she even have the brains for this? Someone as... ahem, could it be ghostwritten?* Looking at the six words 'Annotated by Perfected Tianning' written on the scripture, Liu Xiu couldn't help thinking so. His meaning was simple: Those who understood, understood; Those who didn't, never would! The stray thought vanished in a flash. Liu Xiu flipped through the scripture in his hands. By the time he finished reading, both Shi Shaojian and Four-Eyed Daoist had concluded their meditation. Yet the two wore completely different expressions. The former looked down his nose with an arrogance made increasingly obvious by the mud-like black lightning flashing across his eyes from time to time, while the latter wore a scowl so miserable that his ugly old face looked even worse. Clearly, One had reaped great rewards, While the other had gained virtually nothing! Four-Eyed Daoist, having gained next to nothing while struggling with the obscure Hegemon Body Three-Light Primordial Magnetism Art, stood up gloomily, patted his buttocks, and said, "Let's move!" He wasn't dwelling on much—just wondering how much money it would take to buy the English dictionary and the electromagnetism book his Eldest Senior Martial Brother Shi Jian had mentioned, and whether they were expensive. After all, he was very poor! *Did I speak too harshly earlier?* Shi Shaojian glanced at the suddenly depressed Four-Eyed Daoist and gave it a passing thought. But it was only a fleeting thought; stepping out in the lead, he once again used the moonlight to read his picture book. The path of cultivation required a balance of work and rest. He had cultivated for so long; it was time to reward himself! Liu Xiu also folded up his little stool! And so, to Four-Eyed Daoist's repeated calls of "The dead travel by night, the living make way!" and the paper money fluttering through the air, the group resumed their journey driving corpses toward Ren Family Town. They traveled safely for a few more li, emerging from the barren woods onto a rugged, weed-choked official road. Just as Liu Xiu was asking Four-Eyed Daoist how much a common White Jiangshi cost in the cultivation world, A clamor of voices suddenly erupted ahead, accompanied by torches flickering conspicuously in the dark of night. Four-Eyed Daoist narrowed his eyes to look. Several dozen meters ahead, an elegantly dressed old woman was leading a retinue of household servants in pursuit of a father and daughter who appeared to be itinerant barbers. The father and daughter were fleeing straight toward them! The lavishly dressed old woman looked to be in her sixties, yet she sprinted like the wind, waving a torch as she shouted at the barber: "How dare you run! You've offended my sensibilities! No, you must compensate me twenty thousand silver dollars today, or this matter won't end!" "Twenty thousand silver dollars! You might as well kill us! I gave your son a damn haircut, and first you demanded fifty small silver coins, then twenty big silver dollars! Why don't you just go rob someone?!" The middle-aged man running ahead with a barber's carrying pole on his shoulders turned back and shouted furiously. The daughter beside him cried out in a pleasing voice: "Twenty thousand silver dollars! Even if you sold me, I wouldn't fetch that price! And you claim to come from a family of scholars—do you have no sense of decency at all..." "You bullies are going too far! Young lady, don't be afraid, I'm coming to save you!" Hearing the sweet female voice, Shi Shaojian's eyes lit up. Quickly stowing his picture book, he sprinted toward the shadowy pair several dozen meters ahead, moving with a reaction speed that left Liu Xiu far behind. "It truly is going too far..." Four-Eyed Daoist instinctively rolled up his sleeves to help, then suddenly paused. Here was the question: what normal person got a haircut at eleven or twelve at night? Furthermore, there wasn't a single household within thirty li of his cottage. They had only traveled eight or nine li so far. These people couldn't have run all the way from over twenty li away, could they? As he pondered, Four-Eyed Daoist instinctively fished pomelo leaves from his satchel and wiped his eyes to open his Yin-Yang Eyes. Looking ahead, where were there any humans? There was only a horde of ghastly, terrifying ghosts. He instinctively turned to look at Liu Xiu, only to see that Liu Xiu had already pulled the Heavenly Thunder Shield—now shrunk to the size of a breastplate mirror—out of his pocket and was stuffing it into the lining of his Daoist robe, leaving Four-Eyed Daoist dumbfounded. Noticing Four-Eyed Daoist's gaze, Liu Xiu didn't speak. He simply pointed at his own eyes, which glowed with faint azure light. Once the Immortal Visage of Jade Eyes and Square Pupils was mastered, his eyes could perceive ghosts, spirits, and the netherworld even without actively activating the full phenomenon. Granted, his eyes had originally been able to see things ordinary mortals could not even without opening Yin-Yang Eyes, but after cultivating this Immortal Visage, he saw far more. Coupled with 'Effect Five: Cleansing the Mysterious Mirror' from his talent—which broke through inner demons and falsehood— He could now see even deeper truths! The very moment Liu Xiu laid eyes on the group, he had realized they weren't human, but a band of murderous ghosts. At the same time, he caught fleeting glimpses of these ghosts harming people in the past—blurry, momentary flashes. "..." *Right! I forgot about that!* Four-Eyed Daoist wasted no more breath. Drawing his peach wood sword, he yelled, "Martial Nephew, get back!" and charged forward. Liu Xiu also didn't dawdle; pointing toward the rear, he warned the Black Jiangshi: "Try to run off, and I'll zap you!" The Black Jiangshi shuddered, nodding meekly before leading the walking corpses in retreat. Just as Liu Xiu prepared to charge, He realized there was no need to, Because the ghosts had already made their move! The moment a gust of yin wind blew, the ghosts split into three paths. Fifteen servants instantly transformed into ghastly green wraiths. Then, completely ignoring Shi Shaojian, these sickly green specters lunged straight for Four-Eyed Daoist and his peach wood sword. Liu Xiu meant to move, but after flickering several times, the aristocratic old woman appeared right in front of him. "What a handsome young lad..." The old woman's voice was eerie and hollow. As she spoke, she extended a withered ghostly claw wrapped in yin wind, lunging viciously toward Liu Xiu's throat. "Auntie, don't be hasty, we're on the same side!" *Immortal Visage: Jade Eyes and Square Pupils—open!* *Immortal Visage: Ice-Skin Jade-Bones—open!* *Immortal Visage: No Shadow at Noon—open!* Although he already cast no shadow, Liu Xiu still activated No Shadow at Noon to retract his yang qi entirely. With all three Immortal Visages unleashed at once, Liu Xiu's skin instantly took on the blue-white pallor of a corpse, and azure light surged in his eyes. Coupled with the complete absence of leaking yang qi from his body, the old woman attempting to throttle him suddenly aborted her strike. The scene grew thoroughly bizarre! The old woman stared blankly at the eerie-looking Liu Xiu. In the end, she didn't follow through with the attack, withdrawing her hand instead. It couldn't be helped; he looked more like a ghost than she did! She suddenly felt she couldn't strangle him to death anyway! "You... you've offended my sensibilities! You must compensate me twenty thousand silver dollars!" The old woman demanded money the instant she opened her mouth, leaving Liu Xiu momentarily stunned. "Hey, I'm a ghost too!" "Ghosts have to pay compensation as well! Of course, I'm not an unreasonable person. I come from a family of scholars! You just need to pay me twenty thousand silver dollars. If that's truly impossible, we can negotiate!" "..." *Are you sure you come from a family of scholars?* *Why do you seem more like a feral beast to me!* Liu Xiu wore a look of utter disbelief. The old woman seemed to guess his thoughts, raising her head with haughty pride: "My husband and my sons are all schoolteachers..." "..." Liu Xiu was done playing along. Growing thoroughly annoyed, he enlarged the Crimson Firmament Sword in his hand, gripped the hilt, silently recited the Taishang Laojun Ghost-Slaying Incantation, and thrust straight toward her heart. *Swoosh—* There was no lightning—only an overbearing, soul-devouring ferocity and black demonic qi that erupted from the blade as the sword cut through the air. Wisps of black demonic qi surged, followed closely by threads of blood-red baleful aura. Confronted by this strike, the old woman showed no fear, only a brief daze followed by a sneer. Sneering, her figure vanished into thin air, dodging the direct thrust. But the moment she materialized at Liu Xiu's flank, thrusting her ghostly claws with their elongated black nails toward his neck— Liu Xiu's head turned slightly, looking at her with an expression reminiscent of Superman watching the Flash. That single glance left the old woman dumbstruck, her eyes widening in utter disbelief. The next instant, a harsh screech and a shower of sparks erupted where Liu Xiu's left palm met her nails. And an instant after that, the old woman looked down in horror at the Crimson Firmament Sword, which had somehow pierced through her abdomen and was bursting with bloody light and demonic qi. She raised her head blankly to look at Liu Xiu. "I come from a family of..." "Yeah, I can tell!" Liu Xiu pulled out the sword and kicked her away. Without sparing a glance at the shattering soul of the old woman, he quickly examined the faint white mark on his left palm. *Immortal Visage is awesome!* Aside from making him look somewhat unhuman, the Immortal Visage of Ice-Skin Jade-Bones vastly augmented his physical defenses. This was the primary reason he had been able to trade blows with the royal jiangshi in the tall-tree grove without either being able to kill the other. Quickly setting the thought aside, Liu Xiu ran with his sword toward Four-Eyed Daoist, who was slaying lesser ghosts ahead. Just as Four-Eyed Daoist's face lit up with joy— He watched Liu Xiu streak past him without so much as a glance, heading straight for Shi Shaojian, who was getting his hair washed even further ahead! Shi Shaojian, drifting further away the more his hair was washed! That was Liu Xiu's reason for bypassing Four-Eyed Daoist! "!!!" *Is your martial uncle's life not worth a damn?!* Fuming with indignation, Four-Eyed Daoist silently recited the Taishang Laojun Ghost-Slaying Incantation while swiping his hand across the blade of his peach wood sword. The blade blazed with golden light, dispatching a lesser ghost with a single swing. In under two seconds, he finished off the remaining ghosts, then sprinted after Liu Xiu toward Shi Shaojian. He had no choice; this was Eldest Senior Martial Brother's son, and he couldn't leave him to die. But as he pursued, he noticed something was wrong! Shi Shaojian was drifting further away the more his hair was washed. Four-Eyed Daoist's expression changed, and he picked up his pace. Meanwhile, as Liu Xiu and Four-Eyed Daoist sprinted, Shi Shaojian, who had just had his hair washed, sat blankly on a stool, chatting with the barber's daughter. It wasn't Shi Shaojian taking the initiative, however, but the girl, who murmured in an eerie tone: "Young master, you seem to be in very low spirits!" "Yeah, my old man favors my junior brother..." "Then how about I help you kill him?" "No, that won't do!" The vacant-faced Shi Shaojian shook his head instinctively. The barber's daughter paused, then smiled. "Then how about I help you kill your junior brother?" "No, no!" Shi Shaojian still shook his head instinctively, shaking it even faster. Seeing this, the barber stropping his razor nearby frowned. His daughter smiled again: "Then how about I kill you?" "Kill... kill me... that's even worse!" Shi Shaojian shook his head furiously, making the faces of the barber and his daughter turn grim. Just as they prepared to strike, They noticed Shi Shaojian had stopped shaking his head. Snapping awake, black lightning crackling in his eyes, he looked up at the barber's daughter. With that look, Shi Shaojian's eyes went wide, his fists clenched, and his entire body trembled. What pretty young girl? What met his eyes was a female ghost covered in rotting flesh. Instantly reminded of the jiangshi fox spirit, Shi Shaojian stammered, "Y-y-you... bleeech!" Truth be told, The barber's daughter felt profoundly insulted! Yet just as she and her father were about to strike, Shi Shaojian raised his head in towering fury. He roared with boundless rage: "Hegemon Body—activate!" *Hegemon Body Three-Light Primordial Magnetism Art—move for me!* Black, mud-like lightning that was no longer faint erupted from Shi Shaojian's fist. As he threw the punch, it landed heavily against the face of the barber's daughter. "Aaaagh!" A shrill shriek tore from the daughter's mouth as she stumbled backward. Shi Shaojian pursued relentlessly, throwing punch after punch, striking her hideous face again and again. He roared at the top of his lungs: "Die! Die! Die...!" In his eyes, the barber's daughter was no longer just a female ghost, but the embodiment of all the deception he had suffered in the past— Like that female demon, like that jiangshi fox spirit, and like all the injustices he endured because that biased old bastard favored someone else! Watching Shi Shaojian furiously beat the female ghost, Four-Eyed Daoist, who had just caught up, stood slightly dazed. As before, he wanted to retract his earlier assessment of Shi Shaojian. Liu Xiu didn't freeze. Shifting his stance, the body-refining effects of the Three-Light Primordial Magnetism Body-Refining Art allowed him to blur into an afterimage, appearing behind Shi Shaojian as the Crimson Firmament Sword slashed out! *Swish—Clang—* The Crimson Firmament Sword chopped straight into the razor held by the barber, who had been attempting to shave Shi Shaojian's head. The barber's face twisted in horror as he beheld the sword cloaked in bloody light and demonic qi. No longer caring about his daughter, he turned on his heel to flee, only to be greeted by a brilliant, golden-blazing peach wood sword. *Swish! Swish—* Two nearly simultaneous whooshes sounded at the barber's neck. The barber glared furiously at the two. "Y-you... fight dirty..." *Snap—* The next instant, the barber's soul shattered, dispersing into nothingness just like the old woman before him. Liu Xiu and Four-Eyed Daoist remained impassive, neither feeling that they had acted too ruthlessly. Of course, their reasons for not feeling ruthless were entirely different. Like Shi Jian, Four-Eyed Daoist had always preferred killing by mistake to letting an evil spirit escape. Liu Xiu was different: his eyes told him these ghosts had harmed people—and far more than just one life. Since they had already taken human lives, there was no need for them to go below to await judgment or reincarnation. Entering the Jian realm as ghosts of ghosts was entirely sufficient. Had his cultivation attainment been higher, Liu Xiu would have gladly sent them straight into the inaudible Xi realm, Or the invisible Yi realm! Swords in hand, the two glanced around, confirming there were no other ghosts left before turning to look at Shi Shaojian, who was still pummelling the barber's daughter. Instinctively, Liu Xiu and Four-Eyed Daoist exchanged a look, instantly reading each other's thoughts. *To be honest, this guy is really vicious!* ×2 Both sighed inwardly with mixed feelings, yet neither moved to stop him. After all, this female ghost was a murderer. One crossed his arms to watch quietly, while the other—the handsome Liu Xiu—went over to rummage through the barber's carrying pole to see if there was anything worthwhile. He didn't find any good treasures, but the moment he picked up the razor left behind by the barber, the voice of his narrator cheat rang out: [Jie-jie-jie! Your fingertips brush across the razor's cold edge left by the barber ghost, sensing the surging blood qi and towering, resentful malice swirling about the chilling blade. You perceive clearly that this ghostly barber's razor has slaughtered at least a hundred souls; otherwise, the weapon would not carry such profound resentment and blood qi. Looking upon this razor, a flicker of virtue surfaces in your eyes, and a compassionate plot forms in your heart: you intend to merge this blade of resentful blood with the discarded human skin sloughed off when you stepped into the realm of Refining Essence into Qi, using the resentment and blood qi of a hundred victims as kindling and the human skin as an artifact embryo, combining it with the Blood Shadow Manifestation-Transformation Great Art—derived from the Heaven-Burial Earth-Destruction Great Demonic Art—to forge a boundlessly baleful blood shadow! Once the blood shadow is complete, you can wield this lethal implement to run rampant across the realm, crushing every sect under heaven, plundering every opportunity, trampling all obstacles, and reigning supreme over the cultivation world! Ruling supreme over the cultivation realms across the myriad heavens!] "Huh?" Liu Xiu let out a quiet gasp. He didn't mean anything by it, except that the narrator cheat had actually proposed a plan he could actually use. Strange. Did the narrator cheat take the wrong medicine...? Oh, he almost forgot: the methods of the Heaven-Burial Earth-Destruction Great Demonic Art could not be cultivated; doing so would turn him into a vessel for the Seven-Star Demon King. Still, it was no big deal. Liu Xiu figured he could simply modify the Blood Shadow Manifestation-Transformation Great Art later. He had already thought of a name: He would call it the Lunar Shadow-Refining Art! Setting the thought aside, he pocketed the razor, then gathered up a few other items left behind by the barber that might prove useful. Four-Eyed Daoist watched in silence. It wasn't that he found anything wrong with Liu Xiu taking the razor, But rather that, compared to Liu Xiu who scavenged absolutely everything, he suddenly felt his own freeloading skills were rather mediocre. He was still lacking. *Remember this: next time, I'll scavenge too!* *No, I'll scavenge right now!* Four-Eyed Daoist quickly squatted down to sift through the junk Liu Xiu had passed over, checking if there was anything he could use. Right at that moment, a loud blast rang out! *Boom—* A burst of dull, mud-like black lightning erupted from Shi Shaojian's fist, and with a miserable shriek, the barber's daughter dissolved into nothingness. Shi Shaojian, feeling the successfully condensed Gui Water Yin Thunder thunder seed within his body, rejoiced madly in his heart: *It seems my Hegemon Body is about to awaken!* Indeed, the Hegemon Body was meant to conquer all! With that thought, he looked toward Liu Xiu. Liu Xiu pulled his thoughts away from whether Shi Shaojian actually had a Hegemon Body, gave a thumbs-up, and praised him: "Congratulations, Senior Brother, on successfully condensing the Gui Water thunder seed!" "Mm..." Shi Shaojian raised his head and puffed out his chest, casting a haughty glance down his nose at Four-Eyed Daoist before continuing to lead the way. "..." *I'll endure this!* Still reeling in shock that Shi Shaojian had condensed the Gui Water Yin Thunder thunder seed so quickly, Four-Eyed Daoist's face darkened, and he curled his lip. Without saying a word, he looked toward Liu Xiu. Liu Xiu whistled, and before long, the Black Jiangshi hopped out from the roadside woods, leading the line of walking corpses. Seeing the Black Jiangshi behave so obediently, Four-Eyed Daoist clicked his tongue in wonder, then resumed rummaging through the things left behind by the barber. As for Shi Shaojian marching out in front, his thoughts were far simpler. As before: pain, pain, pain—it hurt so much. Only this time, It was his hands that hurt! *Hiss, my hands hurt like hell...* *Damn, disgusting female ghost, curse you to hell...* Maintaining his lead, Shi Shaojian grimaced in agony, surreptitiously glancing at the bleeding cuts left on his hands from relentlessly pummeling the female ghost.