Chapter 67: Refining the Golden Core in a Sea of Blood
As the gale-force winds shredded the clouds, Lu Qingyang’s Dantian fire had condensed into the illusory form of a Azure Luan.
The twelve blood corpses of Old Ancestor Yinkui were gnawing at his protective spiritual light, and he pressed his tongue against his upper palate, grinding the Nine Transformations Detoxification Pill in his mouth into powder—the Seven-Step Soul Severing Vine, which he had matured with the qingmu spirit pearl three days prior, was now seeping into the joints of the blood corpses via a poisoned needle from his sleeve.
“Does this old ghost raise corpses but not brains?”
He sidestepped a rotting claw, and the copper coin dart between his fingers accurately shot into the gap of the Talismanic Incantation on the blood corpse’s forehead.
The exploding corpse poison, mixed with rotten bone flower pollen, melted three blood puppets into putrid, bloody water. “Using female cultivators born in yin years to refine corpses? You might as well go to a mass grave and pick up a few beggar’s bones!”
Old Ancestor Yinkui’s withered face twitched, and the human skin drum at his waist vibrated, emitting soul-stirring sound waves.
Blood beads seeped from Lu Qingyang’s earlobes, but the qingmu spirit pearl in his Sea of Consciousness rippled—within the spiritual field space, the thousand-year Soul Nurturing Wood suddenly grew wildly, completely devouring the ghostly wails that had invaded his Divine Sense.
He feigned a stumble and fall, and the thunder-fire Talismanic Incantation secretly held in his sleeve glided along the ground, blasting a gap in the Kan position of the blood sea array.
“Kan three, Zhen seven!”
The Old Ancestor quickly retreated, forming hand seals, only to see a blue light flickering from the sole of the young man’s boot.
Lu Qingyang stepped on the shattered array patterns and leaped into mid-air, his Azure Luan Dantian fire transforming into ten thousand feathers, steaming a ten-foot-deep void in the sea of blood.
In the boiling blood mist, he glimpsed a bronze ghost mask suspended at the eye of the array, and licked the bloodstain from the corner of his mouth: “This Netherworld Ghost Face Cauldron, Junior will gladly accept.”
The Old Ancestor, enraged, laughed instead, his withered fingers repeatedly touching seventy-two acupoints.
The blood swamp on the ground surged into nine coiling Dragons, each Dragon head holding a wailing vengeful spirit.
Lu Qingyang’s hairs stood on end, and his Dantian fire condensed into a small, inch-long sword in his palm—precisely the “Hidden Edge Stance” recorded in the 《Tai Xu Sword Chapter》.
As the Sword Qi cut open the blood Dragon’s throat, the Soul Guiding Incense hidden in his sleeve quietly diffused, drawing the vengeful spirits towards the ghost face cauldron’s soul-absorbing holes.
“How dare you, impudent brat!”
The Old Ancestor sensed his spiritual power stagnating, and his natal corpse puppet, refined for a hundred years, burst out of the ground.
That Golden Armored Corpse had a vertical eye on its forehead and held half a demon-subduing pestle in its palm, clearly the Head Monk of Prajna Temple who had disappeared thirty years ago.
Lu Qingyang’s pupils constricted slightly, and the qingmu spirit pearl in his Dantian suddenly trembled; the hourglass illusion within the pearl actually reversed at this moment—the trajectory of the Golden Armored Corpse’s pestle swing became suddenly clear as a painting.
“Clang!”
The medicinal shovel collided with the demon-subduing pestle, sparking a shower of stars, and Lu Qingyang used the force to flip backward into the sea of blood.
The highly corrosive blood water touched the Azure Luan Dantian fire, raising a sky-obscuring poisonous mist.
He held his breath and sank into the eye of the array, his fingertips caressing the icy patterns of the bronze ghost mask—the ancient treasure identification technique taught by the Old Drunkard years ago surfaced in his mind, and the Taiyin inscriptions in his pupils disassembled and recombined, surprisingly matching a certain rusty spot on the qingmu spirit pearl.
The Old Ancestor’s sinister laugh penetrated the blood mist: “A mere Early Stage Golden Core…” His voice abruptly cut off as the ghost face cauldron suddenly backfired, attacking its master’s vital blood.
Lu Qingyang’s left arm Meridians bulged, and the dragon blood grass in the spirit pearl space swayed wildly, devouring the hundred-year-old blood Evil Qi cultivated in the cauldron into his body.
Fine Dragon scales appeared on the surface of his Golden Core, and the intense pain made him bite his tongue, yet he still didn’t forget to mock: “Thank you for the generous gift, Senior!”
The Golden Armored Corpse’s demon-subduing pestle was suspended three inches above his head, shattered by the suddenly surging Azure Dragon illusion.
Blood seeped from Lu Qingyang’s seven orifices, but his Dantian fire condensed into a tangible azure jade armor.
He stepped on the shattered array patterns and leaped out, the tip of his medicinal shovel picking up half a bronze fragment—precisely the ancient treasure component he had obtained from Su Li’s hand years ago.
Old Ancestor Yinkui’s figure became illusory, his Blood Escape technique pushed to its limit.
Lu Qingyang did not pursue; instead, he formed a hand seal and ignited the Nine Nether Phosphor Fire hidden outside the array.
The ten-mile radius of the blood sea instantly vaporized, revealing three hundred coffins buried underground.
Each coffin lid was engraved with a birthdate, and the newest one clearly read “Ye Ming, Outer Sect Disciple of Taiyi Pavilion.”
“No wonder they chose a Xuan Yin Earth Vein…” He flicked his finger, igniting the corpse coffin, and a wisp of green smoke condensed into a Soul Chasing Guide in his palm.
Wherever the Dantian fire passed, the resentment transformed into specks of fireflies that merged into the spirit pearl space, and that patch of medicinal field actually grew faint golden patterns.
His Divine Sense swept over the newly Awakened “Crossing Calamity” array pattern, and a cold smile played on his lips: “Senior Brother Ye Wuchen, you must properly accept this favor.”
On a cloud boat a thousand miles away, Ye Wuchen, who was meditating, suddenly felt a pang in his heart.
The jade pendant at his waist cracked, reflecting Lu Qingyang’s figure burning the corpse coffin.
He crushed the communication Jade Slip, and golden light flowed in his eyes: “Soul Nurturing Wood, dragon blood grass, Crossing Calamity array… Where exactly did this child get so many ancient Legacies?”
In the ruins of the sea of blood, Lu Qingyang was using his Dantian fire to temper the Netherworld Ghost Face Cauldron.
The yin inscriptions on the cauldron body twisted and recombined in the Azure Luan fire, gradually revealing half a star map.
The hourglass in the spirit pearl space suddenly overturned, and he, enlightened, bit his middle finger, using blood as ink to trace the trajectory of the star map.
When the last stroke fell, the residual Evil Qi in the cauldron actually transformed into pure spiritual power, nourishing his nearly shattered Golden Core.
“So this is the true essence of Taiyin Artifact Refining technique.” He caressed the newly formed moon pattern on the cauldron ear, then suddenly turned to look at the eastern sky.
Three Sword Qis cut through the twilight, and the cloud-patterned robes of Taiyi Pavilion fluttered.
The female cultivator at the forefront had picturesque features, but a Jade Slip from Immortal Doctor Valley hung at her waist.
Lu Qingyang put the ghost face cauldron into his sleeve, and casually inserted his medicinal shovel into the scorched earth: “Fairy Su, how have you been? Your younger sister’s Xuan Yin Body…” He deliberately paused, watching her face instantly turn pale, “If you need dragon blood grass, it’s five hundred Spirit Stones per stalk.”