Chapter 36 Hua Xiaomei - Body Movement
Three days later, Ye Jie and his companions once again practiced together on the beach.
Under Xia Wei's careful teaching, even Nan Linghe, who knew nothing about martial arts, gradually mastered the use of the Soul-Binding Rope.
A pitch-black noose formed in Nan Linghe's hand. She swung it with all her might, but the noose was so light that it fell to the ground after only a few steps.
Nan Linghe glanced at the noose he had thrown out in confusion. Xia Wei simply smiled faintly and reminded him:
"Simply condensing the Soul Binding Rope isn't enough. Using it to bind a target requires some skill. Leveraging waist strength and dexterity, you can swing the rope further. Brute force alone won't cut it."
As she spoke, Xia Wei stretched out her hand and a long black whip condensed in her hand. She shook her wrist lightly and wielded the whip with great vigor. She swung the whip and the sharp whip shadow whizzed past, like a nimble snake, quickly wrapping around the huge rat that was trying to escape twenty steps away, rolled up its body, and quickly pulled it back to her side.
The rat retaliated with lightning, a violent current flowing along its whip, striking Xia Wei's body. Xia Wei activated her skills, completely absorbing the incoming current. Tempered by the lightning, her body became even whiter and more flawless.
On the side, Lu Xi seemed to have discovered something interesting and pointed at the rat and said, "Su, Xu..."
"It's a rat." Nan Linghe ran over and corrected.
Ye Jie stood there, still recalling Xia Wei's exquisite posture of throwing the lasso in his mind. He saw Xia Wei's movements with his eyes, engraved them in his heart, and felt his arms trembling slightly.
Xia Wei's demonstration seemed to open the door to a new world for Ye Jie. He had never imagined that the Soul Binding Rope could be used in this way. Xia Wei's creativity and understanding of the technique were beyond the reach of ordinary people.
Ye Jie closed his eyes and imitated Xia Wei's movements with his arms. He was inspired and now he had a new understanding of the Soul-Binding Rope, which had not made any progress for many years. Invisible spiritual power permeated his whole body, and his understanding of the Soul-Binding Rope became deeper.
When Ye Jie opened his eyes, he saw Xia Wei standing in front of him, looking at him with smiling, moist eyes: "It seems that Master has also gained something."
"Of course."
Ye Jie smiled. He took out the torn page and saw that the column of skills, 【Soul Binding Rope (Beginner)】, became blurred and turned into 【Soul Binding Rope (Mastery)】.
Xia Wei gently kneaded the corner of her clothes with her hands, her movements were a little playful, and she smiled and said, "It would be great if Xiaowei could help Master."
Ye Jie patted her head and said, "Your body has been tempered by lightning and has become even tougher. With your impressive talent, I'm afraid you'll be able to reach the second level in a few days."
Hearing this, Xia Wei's eyes flashed with determination: "When I advance to the second level, I will find the shrimp-headed man and avenge Qi Feng's death."
Ye Jie said with some concern: "That shrimp-headed man, after all, has the strength of the middle stage of the third level. Although you are the reincarnation of an immortal, your skills are not complete. If you want to fight against higher levels, I am afraid it will not be so easy."
"If Xiaowei can't even defeat the Shrimp-Headed Man, how can she seek revenge on the Hengshan Bandit?" Xia Wei showed a hint of urgency and shook her head. "Besides, Xiaowei has practiced so many techniques. Isn't her collection of techniques still complete?"
Ye Jie smiled and said, "Do you know which type of martial arts is the most important to you, among the series of martial arts such as internal martial arts, the five elements, the horizontal training, the fist and palm techniques, and the sword techniques?"
Xia Wei's eyebrows knitted slightly, a thoughtful look in her eyes: "The Five Elements Method is the most powerful and can kill enemies from a distance, so it should be the most important."
"You're wrong," Ye Jie corrected him. "For now, among all the types of martial arts, only body movement is the most important to you. Good body movement is enough to help you defeat enemies of higher levels. As the old saying goes: The only martial art in the world that cannot be defeated is speed. The advantage of speed is enough to catch the enemy off guard and gain the upper hand."
After a pause, Ye Jie continued, "Not only that, physical skills are also a prerequisite for escaping from a powerful enemy. Imagine that the enemy can't even touch you. Even if they have strength, they have nowhere to use it, so how can they hurt you? As long as you save your life, you won't have to worry about not having the opportunity to make a comeback in the future. For safety's sake, before you challenge the shrimp-headed man, it's best to learn a superior physical skill."
Xia Wei nodded, revealing a look of enlightenment. "So, body movement skills are so important. But, where can I find a superior body movement skill?"
Ye Jie comforted her, "Don't worry. I've already got some ideas about body techniques. It won't be long before I can find one for you. You can just focus on practicing here."
"Master..." Xia Wei smiled, her clear eyes shining like stars. Deep in her eyes was her deep trust in Ye Jie.
After saying goodbye, Ye Jie and Nan Linghe returned to the underworld and soon saw several familiar figures.
Hua Xiaomei, dressed in white, was waiting here like a cedar tree. Fuling, dressed in a gown, was fanning herself impatiently with a folding fan, and it seemed that she had been waiting for a long time.
Seeing Ye Jie approaching, Hua Xiaomei stepped forward, took a look at him, and said in surprise, "In just a few days, you've already broken through a small realm and reached the same mid-second stage as me. No wonder you dared to summon us at this time to return to the evil cultivator's cave to investigate. It seems that you have already won."
Ye Jie clasped his fists in return, "As long as we work together, we will surely overcome all the challenges ahead. Furthermore, we have the help of our maid, Long Fuling, on this journey. Taking down that pale evil spirit is a sure thing. A fruitful return awaits us."
Hearing the compliment in Ye Jie's words, Fuling's cold expression improved a little, and she shook her fan and said:
"Don't be so sentimental. I only went to confirm the death of Master Black Hawk. After all, he was the culprit who caused the destruction of my family. Only by witnessing his tragic death with my own eyes can I let go of this knot in my heart."
As she was speaking, Nan Linghe also ran over and greeted her, "Hello, Sister Mei."
"Hello." Hua Xiaomei smiled faintly, her eyes falling on Nan Linghe. Suddenly, she was stunned. "Wait, how come you're already at the peak of the first level? It doesn't seem like it's been that long since you became a ghost messenger?"
After confirming again and again that she was not mistaken, Hua Xiaomei had no choice but to look at Ye Jie with a puzzled look, hoping to get an explanation from him.
Ye Jie coughed dryly and said, "She gained a good effect from the spiritual baptism when she tore off the torn pages of the Book of Life and Death, and her strength improved by leaps and bounds."
Hua Xiaomei accepted this statement and said with emotion, "I thought that high-level spiritual power baptism was a scam. I didn't expect that someone could really rely on spiritual power baptism to leap to the peak level of the first level."
After a pause, she continued, "However, increasing your strength too quickly can easily destabilize your foundation, leading to a lack of spiritual power. You need to calm down for a while, especially not neglecting your training techniques. You must at least master the Soul-Breaking Arrow and the Soul-Binding Rope before you can be considered a qualified ghost messenger."
Nan Linghe nodded, and her bright eyes, shining with light, fell on Ye Jie without blinking.
After a quick chat, they used the power of the Shrinking Stone to return to the Black Hawk Master's cave.
The sky darkened, dark clouds covered the sky, the light gradually faded, and a dull and depressing atmosphere enveloped everyone. The huge and deep cave at the end of the road was like a beast with its mouth wide open, ready to swallow up all hope in the world.
Going deeper inside, the purple magic circle protecting the cave appeared before everyone's eyes again. Unlike last time, the patterns on the magic circle this time were extremely dim, like a candle swaying in the wind, threatening to shatter at any moment.
Ye Jie looked around and took out the Qingming Branch to carefully examine the surroundings of the formation. After a while, he came to the conclusion:
"The Netherworld Formation shows signs of repeated impacts. The spiritual stones buried beneath it are about to exhaust all their spiritual power to maintain its operation. If we had arrived a moment later, the formation would have been completely ineffective, and the trapped evil spirits would have been able to escape."
Hua Xiaomei understood the situation clearly: "That pale evil spirit is very powerful and has harmed countless people. If we can escort it to the Soul Devouring Abyss, I'm afraid we will receive a lot of rewards."
As she spoke, she glanced at Nan Linghe again and said, "Since you've become an official ghost messenger, I won't let you suffer any loss. When the time comes, we can divide the merits we've earned equally based on the number of people we have. What do you think?"
"I have no objection." Nan Linghe replied quickly.
"Compared to hidden virtue, the most important thing is the cultivation method." Ye Jie reminded, "I checked the books of the underworld, and the movement method used by Master Black Hawk is the lower-grade Mysterious Shadow Step of the Earth Rank. As long as the cultivation method is activated, the steps will become extremely agile, and the legs will be so fast that they will leave afterimages. It can be said to be a rare and superior movement method."
Hua Xiaomei was delighted and asked hurriedly, "Is that the technique of the Ghost Immortal Way?"
"Yes." Ye Jie nodded. "But according to the records in the underworld, the Mysterious Shadow Step has a disadvantage, which is that it consumes a lot of spiritual energy. Second-level ghost messengers like us will use up all our spiritual energy in a short time. We can only use it at critical moments."
Fuling suddenly realized something and said with emotion, "I was wondering why he was always so far behind me last time. It turns out that he has this kind of skills. People who haven't practiced this kind of skills wouldn't even be able to touch the corner of his clothes."
"Be careful, once the magic circle is broken, what awaits us may very well be a fierce battle!"
Ye Jie reminded everyone, and when he saw that everyone was ready, he took out the Qingming branch and gently tapped the purple barrier in front of him.
As the dull, withered branches came into contact with the profound patterns of the magic circle, the purple barrier before them quietly shattered, spiderweb-like cracks spreading outward. The magic circle, already weakened in spiritual power, was crumbling at an unimaginable speed, and would soon come to an end.
Everyone concentrated and held their breath, waiting for the arrival of the powerful enemy.
The light of the magic circle gradually faded. As soon as the magic circle of the underworld spirit was broken, what came towards them was not a green-faced, fang-toothed, extremely ferocious evil spirit, but a strong stench.
Looking around, they quickly identified the source of the stench. It was coming from a dried corpse with wrinkled skin that no longer looked human. The corpse resembled a human, but had no arms, and there were traces of dark, dried blood beneath its body.
"It's him. This mummy is Master Black Hawk... He committed many evil deeds in his life. It's a good death for him."
Thinking of the scene where the pale evil spirit tore off Master Black Hawk's arms before escaping from the cave, Fuling was shocked and hurried forward. Just as she was about to check carefully, she was stopped by Ye Jie.
"Be careful, the pale evil spirit that killed Master Black Hawk may still be hiding in this cave." Ye Jie said vigilantly.
Looking around, he saw that the originally smooth cave wall was covered with extremely sharp scratches, the chairs were all smashed, and even Master Black Hawk's magic weapon, the soul-summoning flag, was torn into several pieces.
Ye Jie's reminder was not without reason. Just by looking at the tragic traces, one could imagine how violent the pale evil spirit trapped in it was. If one acted rashly, it might lead to accidents that no one wanted to see.
Fuling also realized Ye Jie's concern, turned her head away and stopped talking.
Everyone searched the cave, but could not find any trace of the pale evil spirit, nor any classics. However, they did find a few low-grade spirit stones that contained hidden traps.
This time Hua Xiaomei learned her lesson. She first used the Soul-Breaking Arrow to trigger the trap under the spirit stone before taking it in her hands.
"There are six spirit stones in total. If Fuling doesn't want them, we can each have two." Hua Xiaomei quickly distributed the spirit stones and happily accepted her share.
Seeing that the pale evil spirit was nowhere to be found, Nan Linghe was a little scared. He hid behind Ye Jie, grabbed his robe and asked, "Where did that pale evil spirit go?"
Ye Jie frowned. "Perhaps there are other exits in the cave. The moment the Nether Spirit Formation was broken, the cave was unimpeded from the outside world. Perhaps she escaped from another location."
"Brother Jie, forget about that evil spirit. Finding the technique is more important."
Hua Xiaomei stared at the Black Hawk Master's mummified corpse, a hint of greed flashing in her eyes. She rubbed her hands and said, "It doesn't matter if you can't find the tome. Wait until I summon Black Hawk Master's spirit and see how I torture him to find out the method for practicing the Mysterious Shadow Step."
A thin layer of black mist emerged from Hua Xiaomei's palms. She covered the mummy's head with both palms, and the black mist clung to it, as if a dark curtain had covered the mummy's face.
"Is that... clouds covering your eyes? What are you doing?" Ye Jie was stunned and then asked.
Hua Xiaomei smiled confidently, "Brother Jie, haven't you learned the Cloud Blindness Technique yet? This is my unique technique. As long as you use the Cloud Blindness Technique to seal the eyes of the deceased, and then call back the soul, the Cloud Blindness Technique's effect will be directly transferred to the soul you called back."
Hua Xiaomei glanced at the dried corpse at her feet. "That Black Hawk Master followed the path of a ghost immortal. Several days have passed since his death, missing the optimal time to summon his soul. Not only that, he harbored immense resentment when he died. I'm afraid his spirit has already transformed into a fierce ghost. These preparations must be made."
"That makes sense." Ye Jie nodded and secretly took note of the usage of Yunzhaimu.
Fuling, who was waiting on the side, could not help but urge him: "Hurry up and start to draw the soul. Once you draw out the soul of Master Black Hawk, I will teach him a lesson."
Hua Xiaomei patted the corpse's forehead and uttered a sweet cry, "Soul, return!"
The next moment, a terrifying aura that made everyone's expressions change drastically burst out from the mummy. The terrifying pressure made it so difficult for people to even breathe.
"What..." Hua Xiaomei was stunned. Before she could finish her words, she was swept away by a pale hand that came out from the mummy. Her body hit the wall of the cave heavily, and her soul was severely damaged!