Inside the quiet room, mist lingered.
Lin Sheng sat cross-legged within it, his eyes slightly closed, his breathing slow. As the mist of the calming incense enveloped him, he began to explore according to the introductory method of the Supreme Heavenly Demon Scripture.
To cultivate the Supreme Heavenly Demon Scripture, the first step is to sense the so-called "Demon Charm," which is the foundation for subsequent cultivation.
Soon, an hour passed.
He suddenly opened his eyes, his brow slightly furrowed.
"There wasn't even a hint of feeling."
For an hour, he had been focusing his mind to sense, but he hadn't felt any abnormality at all, let alone the so-called Demon Charm.
He didn't know what the so-called Demon Charm was exactly, but since it was recorded in this Cultivation Technique, it should exist. Otherwise, how could others cultivate this technique?
He fell into thought, because the Supreme Heavenly Demon Scripture didn't have a so-called compatible monster beast, at least not one he currently possessed.
Therefore, his cultivation of this technique relied entirely on his own talent.
Having no clue for a moment, he furrowed his brow, and finally closed his eyes again, stubbornly continuing his cultivation.
Until several hours passed.
The calming incense in the surrounding incense burners had long since burned out.
When he opened his eyes again, his brow was furrowed even tighter. The result this time was the same as before; he still didn't sense anything.
"It's actually this difficult."
Lin Sheng's brow was tightly furrowed.
Back then, Qi Ning had briefly introduced him to the Supreme Heavenly Demon Scripture.
She had also warned that the cultivation difficulty of this profound technique was extremely high. Now it seemed it was indeed much harder than he had imagined.
Just this first introductory stage alone would stop who knows how many people.
Sensing the existence of the Demon Charm was only the first step, and Lin Sheng had already realized.
Relying on time to sense the Demon Charm was unrealistic; he probably wouldn't be able to sense it in his entire life.
Only when one's own talent reached a certain threshold might this step be achievable.
And failing to reach this threshold meant being unqualified to cultivate this profound technique for life.
"It seems my talent doesn't meet the cultivation requirements for this profound technique."
Lin Sheng furrowed his brow, muttered to himself, and gave a bitter smile.
However, there was no hint of discouragement in his heart. After all, his innate talent wasn't particularly good to begin with.
This situation was also within his expectations.
"It seems I have to start from other aspects."
Muttering to himself, Lin Sheng's tightly furrowed brow relaxed, and he carefully pondered the descriptions in this Cultivation Technique.
"Inner demons... Demon Charm is formless..."
Inner demons are, to some extent, an extension of one's own spirit.
"Then entering through the spirit should be effective."
Lin Sheng thought to himself. In fact, before cultivating this technique, he knew that this profound technique had extremely high requirements for spiritual will.
However, considering that his own spirit attribute was already three points, it should be enough.
Now it seemed that maybe three points of spirit were still not enough.
"Moreover, relying solely on the spirit attribute might not be enough. The Demon Charm is formless and difficult to perceive, so doesn't that mean the improvement of the perception attribute is equally important?"
After pondering for a while, Lin Sheng already had a faint guess in his heart.
"Whether it is or not, I'll know once I try. If even I can't cultivate it, then what qualifications do others have to cultivate it?"
Slowly uttering a sentence, he had already integrated Big Yellow, the Three-Eyed Spirit Beast, and the Three-Colored Mother Bird. As for the final integration mark, he chose the Spirit Bone Python.
Three points of spirit increase, as well as a high perception increase.
At this moment, Lin Sheng felt that he could clearly perceive the crowds coming and going on the long street outside the mansion.
He raised his hand and lit four more sticks of calming incense, then took a deep breath and entered the cultivation state again.
He began to sense according to the introductory method of the Supreme Heavenly Demon Scripture.
He calmed his mind and spirit, keeping his own spirit in an extremely gentle state, as if it were separated from his body.
At the same time, his body's perception was instinctively magnified to the maximum.
Time flowed slowly. Before long, the unchanging situation began to change.
In the darkness, Lin Sheng's consciousness seemed to pass through some hidden restraint.
After breaking free from it, his own consciousness immediately felt an extremely heavy pressure, as if he had dived dozens of meters underwater. It was unspeakably oppressive, heavy, and also carried a bone-chilling cold, or perhaps 'yin cold' would be more accurate.
And the perception that had been pushed to its limit had now disappeared.
No, it hadn't disappeared, but was also subjected to some kind of suppression, squeezed to a very limited extent, so much so that he could only perceive things within three or four meters in front of him.
And the environment fed back by his perception was no longer the previous room.
Instead, it was a dim world full of decaying Aura.
The air was filled with extremely fine spore-like dust, moving on its own without wind.
What surprised him even more was that his own body looked like a dried corpse, terrifying in appearance, covered in grayish-green moss and spiderweb-like patterns, as if it had been decaying for a long time, making it unbearable to look at directly.
The grayish-green spore dust floated at a constant speed, slowly landing on his corpse-like body, and then slowly merged into it little by little at a rather slow speed.
"This..."
Perceiving such a bizarre scene, even if Lin Sheng's mind was firm, his scalp couldn't help but tingle, and an unspeakable chill arose in his heart.
As his emotions fluctuated violently, the speed at which the surrounding spore dust floated slowly also significantly accelerated, and his consciousness quickly dissipated.
"Hoo..."
In the room, even though Lin Sheng opened his eyes, his face still carried an unconcealable shock.
"What was that place!?"
He clenched his fists. Everything he had just perceived felt so real yet so terrifying.
He furrowed his brow tightly, exhaled heavily, and made his restless heart calm down.
The Supreme Heavenly Demon Scripture did not mention the things he had just seen.
But after calming down, Lin Sheng already understood in his heart that those grayish-green spore-like dust particles were likely the Demon Charm mentioned in the Supreme Heavenly Demon Scripture.
"If that was the Demon Charm, then what was going on with the space or world I was just in!!? And how did I turn into a dried corpse?"
A look of contemplation appeared on Lin Sheng's face.
Unfortunately, the Supreme Heavenly Demon Scripture had no related descriptions.
After thinking for a while without any clue, he simply stopped thinking about it. Regardless, now that he had sensed the Demon Charm, he could now officially begin cultivating.
After regulating his breath for a while, he once again entered the state of cultivation.
However, this time he did not perceive the scene from before. Even when he pushed his perception to the limit, there was still no change.
However, he could indeed faintly feel a yin cold Aura around him.
It was this yin cold Aura; he was very familiar with the yin cold he had sensed during his previous cultivation.
Soon, the familiar heaviness and oppression also struck again. Although he couldn't see it, these feelings were incredibly real.
After another while, he could finally feel grayish-green points of light emitting a faint glow appearing from the surroundings.
And these points of light were precisely those grayish-green spore dust particles.
At this step, he could already feel the strain on his spirit feedback.
Lin Sheng immediately calmed his mind and began to carefully feel these bizarre spore dust particles, or rather, the Demon Charm.
As these Demon Charms slowly landed on his body, a sense of yin cold immediately emanated from his body.
Lin Sheng dared not be negligent and immediately tried to actively accept the existence of these Demon Charms with his body, as described in the Cultivation Technique.
At first, there was no change, but as time passed, he gradually felt that the sense of yin cold emanating from his body had strengthened slightly.
If Lin Sheng could see his own body again, he would know that a small clump of the grayish-green moss attached to the dry body had merged into his body.
Fulong City, Gong Mansion.
Inside the spacious room, or more accurately, it should be a great hall.
However, the entire hall had no windows except for the tightly closed door, being completely in a sealed environment.
Gong Wei was on his hands and feet, like a fierce tiger, emitting a tyrannical and domineering Aura.
Around him were seven incense burners, each with several sticks of incense as thick as a baby's finger inserted, emitting wisps of blue-white smoke.
And the incense burners had already accumulated thick layers of ash, with even a lot spilled on the ground, clearly indicating that countless sticks of incense had been burned.
And in front of and behind Gong Wei, respectively, hung a giant scroll painting more than one person tall.
In front of him was a giant tiger with scarlet eyes, in the midst of hunting. Its eyes, filled with bloodthirsty intent, stared directly outside the scroll. A powerful and terrifying Aura emanated from it, its intensity far exceeding the scope of Spirit Beasts, clearly belonging to the level of a monster beast, a terrifying existence.
Although it was a scroll painting, the monster tiger was lifelike, as if it would rush out of the painting in the next moment to tear and devour all the prey in front of it, making people instinctively feel fear and want to turn around and flee.
And the scroll painting behind him was a ferocious giant elephant as massive as a small mountain.
The giant elephant was covered in earthy yellow armor, vast and heavy. Its four tusks were stained with blood and bore mottled marks. The ground beneath its feet was cracked as if unable to bear its Giant Strength, and it also emitted a powerful Aura of a monster beast level.
Although they were just two scroll paintings, they truly made people terrified, as if two terrifying monster beasts were right in front of them.
Even Bones Transformation Martial Artists would likely be intimidated by the Aura under these paintings, their minds collapsing, let alone facing both paintings at the same time.
And at this moment, Gong Wei was in the center of the two paintings. Not only did his spirit not collapse, but he instead emitted a hint of desperate madness. Even knowing he was no match, he still fought fearlessly.
But if one looked closely, they could see that Gong Wei's body was already soaked with sweat, clearly not feeling relaxed.
It wasn't until half an hour later that Gong Wei's body relaxed. He took a deep breath, stepped forward, rolled up the two paintings, and put them away.
After a while, the door of the sealed great hall was pushed open, and Gong Wei stepped out.
Outside the door, Yi Ye Qing was waiting. He saw Gong Wei come out.
Feeling the killing Aura emanating from him, his eyes lit up, and a smile appeared on his face.
"Third Young Master, it seems your cultivation progress during this period of closed-door training is significant. You're close to mastering the Tiger-Elephant Dual Form, right?"
"I have fully mastered the Tiger-Elephant Dual Form. Give me another half month, and I will definitely achieve great success with it."
Gong Wei, with killing Aura surging around him, spoke slowly.
"You've actually fully mastered it? To Master the Tiger-Elephant Dual Form in just over ten days. As expected, Third Young Master, your talent is rarely seen in the world!!"
Hearing this, a look of surprise appeared on Yi Ye Qing's face, and then he praised without reservation.
"Hmph, I will absolutely not suffer the same loss a second time. That kid thought he could defeat me with some low-down trick that affects the mind? Then he is greatly mistaken. Just wait, I will soon reclaim this humiliation."
A look of arrogance appeared on Gong Wei's face.
His confidence, which had been previously shaken, was now completely restored.
If it weren't for being a bit more cautious, he might have already killed his way to Lin Sheng's front.
"Hmph, my things aren't that easy to take."
Hearing Gong Wei's words, Yi Ye Qing's brow couldn't help but furrow.
Seeing the Third Young Master's fierce dedication to diligent cultivation after suffering a setback, he was quite pleased, and even considered it a good thing.
It was just that looking at his appearance, it was clear that this matter wouldn't pass, and he would likely go find trouble with Ghost Face later.
"It seems I must inform Lord Luo Yin about this matter in advance."
He thought to himself, having already decided to report this matter shortly.
Guiyuan Pavilion.
Inside the quiet room in the backyard.
Blazing firelight rose from the quiet room, carrying terrifying high temperatures, dispelling the cold Aura within the quiet room.
Above the crimson flames was a four-legged Alchemy furnace. The furnace was more than one person tall, incredibly heavy. Crimson patterns appeared on its body, and a thick, bloody Aura emanated from it.
Luo Yin stood beside the Alchemy furnace with a solemn and serious expression, his two well-defined large hands occasionally slapping the furnace, producing muffled thuds.
The heavy Alchemy furnace rotated at an extremely fast speed as he slapped it.
And several meters away, Yuan Fang was staring intently at Luo Yin's movements, as if trying to completely memorize everything.
Even though his face was flushed from the scorching flames, and his clothes were already soaked several times, he still didn't leave the room, just gritting his teeth and persevering.
Just as he was about to give up, finally, with a loud shout from Luo Yin.
The heavy Alchemy furnace soared into the air, suspended in mid-air. Powerful force surged through Luo Yin's body. As his hands quickly formed a hand seal and slapped the furnace, the furnace landed steadily on the ground.
Luo Yin waved his large hand, and the continuously burning crimson flames slowly dissipated. Looking at the somewhat disheveled Yuan Fang, he smiled and spoke.
"This Three Crimson Flame is not like ordinary fire. Fang'er, you persevered until now. Remember to take two Fire Repelling Pills to swallow later."
"Master, is this Dragon-Tiger Great Pill finished!!?"
Yuan Fang, however, didn't pay attention to these things and spoke with some excitement.
"Whether it's finished or not, you'll know with a look."
Luo Yin, however, was not in a hurry at all and slowly opened the Alchemy furnace.
In an instant, a thick, pungent bloody Aura surged out from the furnace.
Almost materialized bloody mist rose up, nearly filling the entire room.
However, soon, the mist completely dissipated. Luo Yin slammed his hands heavily onto the Alchemy furnace.
Roar——
For a moment, sounds of dragon roars and tiger roars came from the Alchemy furnace, and finally, seven blood-red pills shot out.
Luo Yin opened his large hand and directly gathered the seven pills into his palm.
Feeling the faint might emanating from them, a hearty laugh appeared on his face.
"Refining pills multiple times, today the pills are finished..."