Chapter 102: The Four Sealed Weapons

Yun Tingfeng abruptly turned his head, his eyes brimming with fury, staring at Xiaozhi who approached gracefully, and questioned coldly, “Why was the intelligence so off the mark?”

Xiaozhi’s jade-like white palms gently clapped together. “Oh my, I was merely going to meet my sweetheart and kill someone. Isn’t gathering intelligence the responsibility of Hongxiu and Yingsha? Besides, Luoshengyi and Jiang Zhiwei are both renowned experts on the Human List; surely their strength needs no elaboration from me? You all hold yourselves in such high esteem, sending merely two people to ambush Jiang Zhiwei. Are you blaming me for that?”

Yun Tingfeng’s facial muscles twitched a few times. Looking at Xiaozhi, whose pure white robes floated like she had merely returned from a bath, spotless and untainted, the anger in his eyes gradually faded. He replied with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes, “How could we blame you? Without you, we wouldn’t have killed a single enemy. We should be thanking you instead.”

After two strikes, she had taken the lives of two experts who had already opened their spiritual gates, effortlessly and elegantly. How could he dare underestimate Xiaozhi again?

The first could be dismissed as a recent opener, unskilled in close combat. The second was clearly an experienced opener, an expert with exceptional blade techniques. Even with an ambush, he couldn’t guarantee an easy victory. Yet Xiaozhi’s current state indicated her strength was not to be trifled with.

“Master Yun is well-read and courteous. Oh wait, no, perceptive and considerate, still not quite right, how about reasonable and understanding? Truly admirable,” Xiaozhi said with a mischievous grin, clearly teasing Yun Tingfeng.

Su Yuanying’s expression darkened, his voice icy as he asked, “Then tell me, who exactly are you?”

He had cultivated a sinister third eye at his brow center, possessing many supernatural abilities. Given Xiaozhi’s repeated extraordinary performances, he increasingly suspected she was far from the obscure figure she claimed to be. Even the name Yulongzi might not be her real name.

“I’m just Xiaozhi. Master Su, did Jiang Zhiwei stab your brain? Your memory seems to have worsened,” Xiaozhi said cheerfully. “There’s something I must remind you, Master Su: the Yin Spirit from Ten Thousand Calamities cannot ascend to sainthood, especially when it’s an externally aided Yin Spirit.”

Su Yuanying’s pale face flushed red instantly, staring at Xiaozhi in disbelief, “You… what are you talking about!”

How could she know? How could she possibly know?

“A strong aura of Yin and evil—I don’t want to smell it, yet it insists on entering my nose. I’ve seen far too much of such things,” Xiaozhi said with a smile playing at the corner of her lips.

Yun Tingfeng gazed deeply at Xiaozhi, increasingly convinced of her mysterious and extraordinary nature. Such things were not commonly seen. Just who was she, and from where did she hail?

Next to them, Di Zun listened in confusion. What was this “Human List”? And the Yin Spirit from Ten Thousand Calamities? He wanted to ask but recalled the precariousness of their current ambush operation. They had to rely on these peculiar martial experts. The sect leader had repeatedly sent messages urging them to respect and court these individuals, so he had to suppress his questions for now.

Just then, a shrill bird cry echoed from above. A grotesque bird, its flesh rotting and black feathers disheveled, landed on Di Zun’s shoulder.

This strange bird radiated thick demonic energy, with a small scroll tied to its foot.

Di Zun removed the scroll, unfurled it, and in his deep, muffled voice, announced to Yun Tingfeng, Su Yuanying, and the others, “The sect leader has issued orders; we are to regroup with him.”

…

“Motong has perished. Each of you will receive fifty virtuous merits.”

When the voice of the Lord of the Six Realms sounded in everyone’s ears, Zhang Yuanshan had already brought Fu Zhenzhen to a ruined temple. Everyone exchanged puzzled glances, unsure why Motong’s death should be counted against them.

Jiang Zhiwei pondered for a moment before saying, “I think I understand. Motong died as a substitute for the person with the vertical eye at his brow center.”

“Substitution and corpse borrowing aren’t rare phenomena, but they usually only involve experts at or above the External Scenery level. The person with the vertical eye at his brow center indeed possesses mysterious techniques,” Luo Shengyi gently stroked the serene face of Xia Dandan, who lay before him, and said heavily, “I failed to anticipate that the enemy would invoke heavenly anomalies, creating a massive sandstorm, which led to this tragedy.”

He was not one to shirk responsibility, and this ambush plan had been his own initiative. Therefore, facing Xia Dandan’s death, he did not secretly resent Meng Qi and the others.

“They also underestimated our strength. If they had concentrated on killing one or two of us, none of us might have escaped. This is a crime of narrow-mindedness, and we all bear responsibility,” Zhang Yuanshan said solemnly. The incident had passed; blame and regret served no purpose. The key was to learn from the experience and avoid underestimating the enemy again.

Thinking of the suspiciously cautious Gu Xiaosang, Meng Qi bared his teeth and said, “Fortunately, after this battle, we now have a general idea of the enemy’s capabilities. We won’t underestimate them again in the future. However, we don’t know how much of the Divine Techniques from the ‘Mother of Non-Birth Descending Manual’ Gu Xiaosang has mastered. We mustn’t focus solely on the Non-Birth Finger.”

There was no need to dwell on the dead. The man with the vertical eye at his brow center clearly specialized in spiritual attacks and harnessing heavenly forces. The thick-browed, long-haired young man might be using the Beiming Divine Skill or the Absorbing Star Technique, possessing powerful internal energy, with each punch and palm strike carrying immense force. However, according to Luo Shengyi’s description, when he used techniques like Seven Wounds Fist or Great Pacifying Fist, the enemy’s moves leaned more toward intricate and subtle variations rather than brute force resistance.

“Indeed, we must be cautious. But I wonder why the man with the vertical eye at his brow center can harness heavenly forces and substitute death for resurrection. If we don’t figure this out, we might fall victim to his schemes again,” Luo Shengyi said, looking at Jiang Zhiwei, Zhang Yuanshan, and Meng Qi. He considered himself more knowledgeable about the cycles of reincarnation than they were, but when it came to martial techniques and different paths to transcendence, he couldn’t match these disciples from renowned sects, who had access to countless entries in the Exchange Catalog. Who had the time and energy to study each one thoroughly?

Meng Qi, still a novice among renowned sect disciples, had been hastily catching up on his martial skills and hadn’t delved deeply into these techniques yet. He looked at Jiang Zhiwei and Zhang Yuanshan with the same expression.

Jiang Zhiwei pursed her lips and said, “I have a rough idea. It should be a branch of the Divine Path known as ‘Nurturing Evil Spirits.'”

“Nurturing Evil Spirits?” Zhang Yuanshan’s expression turned grave.

Meng Qi’s lips twitched slightly, instinctively glancing at Luo Shengyi, Qi Zhengyan, and Fu Zhenzhen, finding them wearing similar expressions of confusion. What exactly was “Nurturing Evil Spirits”?

I’ve only heard of “spirit medium dancing”… Meng Qi silently joked to himself.

Knowing their confusion, Jiang Zhiwei elaborated, “The normal Divine Path involves abandoning the physical body and using incense and offerings to cultivate a new divine form. Then, step by step, one senses the Dao’s operation, grasps parts of its laws, integrates them into oneself, ascends to divinity, and seeks immortality. However, one’s rise and fall depend on incense offerings. I’ve never heard of any deity achieving eternal immortality through this path.”

“Besides the normal Divine Path, there are naturally born deities, and among them, the ‘Nurturing Evil Spirits’ path imitates these naturally born deities.”

“Practitioners use cruel and mysterious methods to cultivate an evil spirit naturally born within them. Then they abandon their physical bodies, using them as cauldrons to nurture the evil spirit. Their true selves exist within the body through Yin spirits. When the evil spirit grows into an ‘Evil God’ through methods like absorption, consumption, or sacrifice, the body will display external characteristics, such as the vertical eye at the brow center. Then, using these external features, one can communicate with heaven and earth through the Evil God’s power, manipulating the forces of all things. The stronger the Evil God, the greater one’s own power.”

“However, Evil Spirits are prone to backfire, requiring various methods to control them, such as dividing them into different cauldrons. Moreover, one’s physical body, having suffered long-term erosion, must be ‘replaced’ frequently. Fortunately, the Evil Spirit can assimilate the new bodies, keeping them at or above the Open Gate level. Even so, out of a hundred practitioners of ‘Nurturing Evil Spirits,’ eighty will perish from the Evil Spirit’s backlash, and nineteen will be reduced to ashes when the Evil Spirit grows strong enough to provoke heavenly tribulations. Only a rare few can nurture the Evil Spirit to ascend as a god and merge with their own being.”

Meng Qi, Luo Shengyi, and others listened with rapt attention. The path of cultivation was indeed full of wonders, with countless routes and myriad paths, all leading forward!

Zhang Yuanshan added, “Therefore, after killing someone with a vertical eye at the brow center, we must not become careless. If their Yin spirit is completely annihilated, the Evil Spirit within will go berserk, influenced by violent and murderous energies, slaughtering everything around it.”

“Although ‘Nurturing Evil Spirits’ is relatively easy to enter and advance, provided one can endure pain, be ruthless, and suppress one’s conscience, it carries too many hidden dangers. Success is rare, while failures cause devastating destruction. Thus, after the Middle Ancient era, this cultivation method gradually fell out of use. It is said that only the Luo Sect, the Eternal Life Sect, and the Benevolent Tower among the Nine Evil Sects still preserve the secret manuals and have practitioners,” Jiang Zhiwei gently stroked the verdigris-covered sheath of her White Rainbow Sword with her right index finger. “If not for this cultivation method being quite distinctive, and my sect elders having specifically explained it, I wouldn’t have known about it either.”

Meng Qi clicked his tongue in amazement, “With the help of the Lord of the Six Realms, ‘Nurturing Evil Spirits’ might be easier to enter and advance. I believe He can directly exchange for Evil Spirit seeds or even authentic Evil Gods.”

There were just too many things in this area; he hadn’t even come across them before.

At this point, Zhang Yuanshan patted the Teng Snake Sword at his waist and said, “From the hints of ‘Nurturing Evil Spirits,’ I think I understand how the ‘Tunneling’ and ‘Divine Entry’ abilities work in this world.”

“How do they work?” Meng Qi was very interested in the ability to vanish by harnessing external forces. If he mastered it, the Wind God Legs would no longer be just showy techniques but could harness the wind to travel thousands of miles.

Zhang Yuanshan sighed, “They might be even worse than ‘Nurturing Evil Spirits,’ at least the latter’s power is self-controlled.”

The tunneling ability of the Demon Sect likely stems from the residual demonic energy within their bodies. This demonic energy retains the “will” of the Demon Lord, enabling them to commune with heaven and earth, manipulating the forces of all things. The number of supernatural abilities one possesses depends on the quantity of demonic energy. However, this energy corrodes both mind and body. Only Venerables and Sect Leaders can obtain the core demonic energy, so ordinary tunneling disciples must seek favor from their superiors to advance further. Over time, they lose their sanity and humanity, transforming into ruthless killers and mere puppets of the demonic energy.

“Oh, I see…” Meng Qi felt slightly disappointed, but judging from the combat experience, Zhang Yuanshan’s speculation was likely accurate. “No wonder sealing the Demon Grave is one of the Four Sects’ objectives. Hehe, if the demonic energy were allowed to leak unchecked, it wouldn’t take long before they faced an army of Tunneling disciples. But then, how do the Four Sects’ Tunneling abilities work?”

Surely they didn’t possess demonic energy?

“The Demon Sect relies on the residual ‘will’ of the Demon Lord. Naturally, the Four Sects rely on the ‘consciousness’ of the Four Sealing Artifacts,” Jiang Zhiwei said calmly. “Therefore, these four weapons must at least be treasures capable of communicating with heaven and earth.”

Treasures capable of communicating with heaven and earth were equivalent to artifacts of an External Scenery expert! Except for Jiang Zhiwei, Meng Qi and the others’ breathing became slightly heavier.

Weapons of this caliber were akin to divine treasures, worth thousands of virtuous merits. Even within the Shaolin Temple, there probably weren’t more than a hundred such treasures.

“The Storm Blade, the Taihua Sword, the Star-Grabbing Hand, the Dawn Loom… judging from Master Gu’s moves, he might indeed have harnessed the ‘consciousness’ of the Storm Blade,” Luo Shengyi recalled the scene of Gu Kongshan summoning a violent wind to blow away the toxins that night.

“No wonder the Fengyun Manor guards the box containing the Storm Blade as if it were a sacred ancestral tablet when traveling…” Meng Qi suddenly understood, his previous confusion instantly resolved.