137: Chapter 137 Seventeen Martial Arts Transformation! Heavenly Dipper Stepping on the Wind!

Tianyin County.

At the cliff where there was no longer a cliff.

Qin Muyuan grabbed the Effeminate Man's head and lightly spat out:

"Soul-Searching Art!"

As his voice fell, a strange fluctuation emanated outward.

Qin Muyuan felt as though he had entered a braindance, and the scenery within his field of vision changed drastically.

At this moment, he found himself within the Effeminate Man's body, viewing this world through the Effeminate Man's eyes.

Countless fragmented and messy memories emerged before his eyes.

Most of them were the Effeminate Man's experiences in his youth: losing his mother in early childhood, losing his father in youth, selling himself out for a livelihood, and so on.

But Qin Muyuan didn't care at all.

Having a tragic childhood and then doing all sorts of bad things after growing up means he can be redeemed?

By that logic, if a certain villain killed countless people and ended up getting beaten into amnesia, could it be that this villain is no longer a villain?

Could it be that because of amnesia, this villain can be washed clean?

How is that possible?

Qin Muyuan couldn't be bothered to care about the reason why this Effeminate Man turned dark.

He merely used the Soul-Searching Art purchased from the mall to search for the [Spirit Talisman Avatar] Divine Ability remembered by the Effeminate Man.

Aside from the [Spirit Talisman Avatar] Divine Ability, Qin Muyuan also wanted to search the Effeminate Man's soul for his Sect.

However, perhaps because his brain was chopped too fragmented, he couldn't find the location and name of the Sect within the Effeminate Man's memories.

He only learned that the Effeminate Man had been dispatched by his "Master" to come from Xingnanzhou to the Southern Wasteland to search for a trace of [Dragon-Swallowing Gu Qi].

"[Dragon-Swallowing Gu Qi]? Isn't this the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi I refined from the Huoyun Country ruler's body?"

Qin Muyuan was taken aback.

In other words, this Effeminate Man actually came looking for him?

"This damned Sect behind him actually dares to target my Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi; they are simply courting death!"

Thinking of this, Qin Muyuan became even more determined to annihilate the Sect behind the Effeminate Man, as well as that "Master".

Although he was currently unable to unearth the Sect behind the Effeminate Man through the form of braindance soul-searching,

however,

Qin Muyuan, who had experience in exterminating Sects multiple times, knew very well that in this game, beating the younger one often brought out the older one.

Whether for revenge or for benefits, the Sect behind the Effeminate Man would definitely come to the Southern Wasteland to find him.

Furthermore, judging from the soul-searching results,

the [Dragon-Swallowing Gu Qi] was crucial to that "Master's" layout and was extremely important.

It was precisely under the Effeminate Man's wide-net casting that the Huoyun Country ruler Song Chengshan, relying on favorable weather, advantageous terrain, and human harmony, managed to nurture such a trace of [Dragon-Swallowing Gu Qi].

Favorable weather referred to the fact that during Song Chengshan's nearly two-hundred-year reign, there were no attacks from demons.

If the cultivation of the [Dragon-Swallowing Gu Qi] had been delayed a bit, Huoyun Country might have been directly annihilated by the Black Water Demon just like Xiaoshan Country.

Advantageous terrain referred to the spirit-qi-barren land deep within the Southern Wasteland where Huoyun Country was located, which lacked powerful Immortal Cultivators and Martial Cultivators.

Otherwise, Huoyun Country's national fortune would have long been forcibly seized by Immortal Cultivators and Martial Cultivators; how would it ever be Song Chengshan's turn to monopolize it?

As for human harmony, it was simply because Huoyun Country's opponent, Xiaoshan Country, was too trashy.

Under the condition that Huoyun Country's seven successive monarchs died prematurely, Xiaoshan Country still couldn't defeat Huoyun Country, allowing Song Chengshan to steadily sit on the throne of the ruler.

Adding all these together, coupled with Song Chengshan's forbearance of never stepping a single step out of the imperial palace for over a hundred and seventy years, this managed to forge the [Dragon-Swallowing Gu Qi].

Such a situation where favorable weather, advantageous terrain, and human harmony were all present was extremely rare; even for the Effeminate Man, it would be very difficult to cultivate a second trace of [Dragon-Swallowing Gu Qi].

Therefore, for the sake of [Dragon-Swallowing Gu Qi], the forces behind the Effeminate Man would definitely continue to send themselves to him as free kills!

Thinking of this, Qin Muyuan set his mind at ease.

He came before the Effeminate Man's corpse, collected the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi floating out from the Effeminate Man's body, and picked up that round-headed soft stick.

"Uh…"

After thinking about it, Qin Muyuan ultimately only refined the Effeminate Man's Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi.

As for this round-headed soft stick… Qin Muyuan put it into his backpack with some disgust.

Fang Yuan had also followed him for a period of time; even without great achievements, she had worked hard.

When he returned to Tianqing County later, he would give this round-headed soft stick to Fang Yuan.

It could work as a weapon, or as something else.

Having refined the Effeminate Man's Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, Qin Muyuan took out several jars and bottles.

These were all bought from the game mall and could store Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi.

The Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi given to him by the Immortal Cultivators of the Eight Great Families was all inside them.

Previously, Qin Muyuan had been in a rush to send the Effeminate Man on his way and hadn't had time to refine these Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi.

Now, he finally had some free time.

[Blue · Furnace All-Things Technique → Yellow · Furnace All-Things Technique]

[Yellow · Furnace All-Things Technique]

[Highest Realm: Huajin Martial Cultivator → Bone-Forging Martial Cultivator]

[Current Realm: Seventeen Martial Huajin]

[Special Abilities: Qinghe True Water Control Art, Dragon-Swallowing Gu, Qingmu Huayuan…]

While swallowing Foundation Establishment Magic Treasures, he absorbed experience points from various Immortal Cultivators and Martial Cultivators.

Unknowingly, the number of Huajin within Qin Muyuan's body directly soared to twenty-five strands of Huajin.

And the Seal Blood transformed by Huajin had also reached a full seventeen layers.

"For ordinary Martial Cultivators, eight layers of Seal Blood are enough to advance to the Bone-Forging Realm, even at Foundation Establishment Perfection."

"Nine layers of Seal Blood is considered a Martial Cultivator with extremely strong power within the same tier."

"Ten layers of Seal Blood can simultaneously fight two Foundation Establishment Perfection Immortal Cultivators with all one's might."

Qin Muyuan thought to himself:

"With my seventeen layers of Seal Blood right now, fighting a Purple Mansion Perfection shouldn't be a problem, right?"

"Hmm, perhaps it's still not stable enough."

After all, Immortal Cultivators who had reached the Purple Mansion Realm possessed powerful means such as Divine Abilities that transcended Immortal Cultivators of the Foundation Establishment Realm.

Take this Effeminate Man for instance; his [Spirit Talisman Avatar] Divine Ability was incomparably powerful, capable of crossing a thousand miles in an instant.

Facing a Purple Mansion Realm Immortal Cultivator with a Divine Ability, he didn't need to worry about his defense with his seventeen layers of Seal Blood.

But as for offensive means and trapping means, it was probably still difficult to retain a Purple Mansion Perfection who wanted to run away.

Fighting a Purple Mansion Perfection yet failing to kill them and letting them escape—

what difference did that make from losing the fight?

After thinking it over, Qin Muyuan decided not to break through to the Bone-Forging Realm for the time being, and instead save up another dozen or twenty layers of Seal Blood first.

He opened the task panel and claimed the rewards.

[Completed Quest One: Slain the unknown figure, avenging the robbery of the Magic Treasure]

[Reward: Experience Points + 40,000, Mall Points + 1, Tiangang Treading Wind]

[Because you already possess Realm-Breaking Wind-Treading Step and Realm-Breaking Wind-Riding Step, the martial art Rank of Tiangang Treading Wind has been upgraded]

[Tiangang Treading Wind Level 1 (0%) → Tiangang Treading Wind Level 4 (10%)]

Instantly, countless usage techniques for the [Tiangang Treading Wind] martial art surged into his mind.

After digesting these martial art techniques, a sharp glint flashed through Qin Muyuan's eyes:

"Very good! I've had another epiphany!"

The so-called Tiangang Treading Wind, just like the Wind-Treading Step and the Wind-Riding Step, was a leg technique.

However,

although Tiangang Treading Wind, the Wind-Treading Step, and the Wind-Riding Step were all leg techniques, there was a fundamental difference between them.

While the latter two had 'wind' in their names, they actually relied on brute force to compress the air to generate explosive wind force.

On the other hand, Tiangang Treading Wind was a Cultivation Technique that truly commanded the momentum of the wind.

Having learned this method, one could tread the void in mid-air like the wind and travel freely across the firmament as one pleased.

In other words,

previously he could only burst forth by stepping on the air, but now…

Qin Muyuan could casually perform acrobatic moves right there in mid-air!