30: molt

Fang Huai had processed countless Yao Beast hides; his technique had long since reached perfection.

But when it was his turn to skin himself, it was a completely different feeling.

This was a sensation of life being stripped away, a primal fear rooted deep in his heart.

Although Liu Xiange had shared her Breakthrough insights, she possessed a Spiritual Root from the start, making her worlds apart from his rootless mortal body.

With no ready-made experience to draw from, he could only rely on his own interpretation of the Hundred Fiends Art and risk everything on a single throw.

One wrong step would mean eternal damnation.

"Fang Huai, haven't you always lamented having no Spiritual Root and being unable to absorb Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi on your own?"

Fang Huai muttered to himself, "Shed this mortal skin, break through to the Qi Refining Fourth Layer, and generate my own Spiritual Root. From then on, the world will be my oyster!"

With burning eyes, he plunged the skinning knife into his flesh. Enduring the agonizing pain, he peeled away the layers of skin.

It felt a bit unnatural at first, but it became increasingly fluid as he went on. The more his mind became immersed, the more the pain eventually faded into a hollow void.

After the skin was completely removed, he used Spiritual Qi to seal his body. He focused his mind and entered a meditative state, gradually sinking into a profound and mysterious trance.

With the skin gone, his muscles quivered, and blood flowed uncontrollably.

Later, as the dual energies of Spiritual Qi and Fiend Qi repaired his body, the muscle tremors gradually subsided, and the blood slowly congealed.

He looked like a statue, his vitality withered and his five senses lost.

If not for his steady breathing, he would have been indistinguishable from a corpse.

In the Qi Refining stage, the Hundred Fiends Art was barred by three life-and-death thresholds.

Each threshold was a trial of life and death; every time a stage was breached, the withered bones of countless Cultivators were left behind.

This also gave rise to the rules of the Corpse Fiend Sect:

Qi Refining Middle Stage Cultivators held a status far superior to those in the Early Stage; Late Stage Cultivators firmly suppressed those in the Middle Stage; and Qi Refining Perfection Cultivators stood above all other Qi Refining Cultivators.

Compared to Cultivators with Innate Spiritual Roots, his Breakthrough was much slower and more difficult.

Fortunately, the Fiend Qi in the space where the blood jade tree stood was pure, which was extremely beneficial for the Breakthrough.

Five days later, Fang Huai suddenly opened his eyes. A sharp light flickered in his gaze as he exhaled a mouthful of turbid air.

By now, a layer of fine and resilient new skin had grown on his body, and the Spiritual Qi throughout his frame circulated more smoothly.

[Hundred Fiends Art (Incomplete Manual) Fourth Layer: 1/100]

Qi Refining Fourth Layer—attained!

With wild joy in his heart, he attempted to draw Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi into his body.

Wisps of faint Spiritual Qi actually broke free from the shackles of heaven and earth, flowing along his meridians before gathering in his Dantian.

This was the first time in his life he had successfully achieved Drawing Qi into the Body on his own without relying on the exchange of tags.

A Cultivator should not have excessive emotional swings, but at this moment, Fang Huai's hands trembled, his heart surging with excitement.

The pain of skinning, the trials of life and death, the struggle of being rootless... all the hardships along the way were worth it!

Inspecting his Sea of Consciousness, he saw a Spiritual Root just over an inch long suspended right in the center.

In terms of quality, it was merely the lowest-grade Pseudo Spiritual Root—the Fiend Spiritual Root condensed by the Hundred Fiends Art.

However, its color was not just the grayish-white described in the manual, but also carried a hint of seductive red.

Although the generated Spiritual Root was of poor quality, Fang Huai showed no sign of disappointment.

If a Fiend Spiritual Root were condensed in an ordinary Fiend-condensing land, its length would likely be less than an inch.

Now, the Fiend Spiritual Root he had condensed exceeded an inch, clearly putting him ahead of ordinary Disciples.

A Fiend Spiritual Root could grow; as long as enough strange fiends were integrated into it, it could theoretically even grow to surpass a Heavenly Spiritual Root.

Why was the Fiend Spiritual Root he generated longer than average?

After some thought, Fang Huai deduced that perhaps the Fiend Qi filtered through the blood jade tree also counted as a type of strange fiend.

His gaze returned to the blood jade tree.

Fang Huai pondered; he was certain he had seen the red mist produced by burning blood jade leaves within the Corpse Fiend Sect, but he couldn't recall exactly where.

He had only been to a few places: the Miscellaneous Labor Valley, the Human Puppet Hall, the Outer Sect Hall, Skinning Peak... That's it, the Human Puppet Hall!

Years ago, when he and Jiang Miao broke into the room of a Guardian Disciple in the Human Puppet Hall, that Guardian Disciple had been using this red mist to Cultivate.

It seemed that the so-called New Sect had already infiltrated the interior of the Corpse Fiend Sect.

Fang Huai had originally thought about informing the Sect about the blood jade tree to exchange for contribution points, but on second thought, he decided against it.

If the Sect asked why he hadn't been corroded by the Blood Jade Worms, it would be difficult to explain.

After all, the Corpse Fall Worm at his heart might be hidden from ordinary Cultivators, but it wouldn't escape the Sect's Soul Searching Technique.

He had intended to use the pure Fiend Qi here to consolidate his cultivation while simultaneously drawing Fiend Qi into his body to practice the Body Tempering Art, but a sudden pain shot through his Sea of Consciousness without warning.

His Identity Token grew slightly hot; the Corpse Fiend Sect was summoning him back to the Sect.

Fang Huai marveled at how truly eerie the Corpse Fiend Sect's methods were.

When he first stepped into the Qi Refining realm, the Sect had sensed it immediately;

Now that he had just broken through to the Qi Refining Fourth Layer, the Sect knew once again in an instant.

He had originally wondered if he could find an opportunity to escape, but thinking about it now, he decided to forget it.

He feared that shortly after leaving the Sect, he would die a sudden and mysterious death.

As for this space, Fang Huai had originally thought about staying or returning later to Cultivate using the Fiend Qi purified by the blood jade tree.

But then he realized that Outer Sect Disciples were forbidden from leaving the Sect at will, and the Zheng Clan was located outside the Corpse Fiend Sect's territory, making the chances of returning slim.

Furthermore, the Zheng Clan had been wiped out; the Sect might send someone here to investigate.

If they happened to discover this space and found traces of his activity inside, he would surely suffer for it.

After pondering for a long time, Fang Huai reached toward the formation eye.

————

The waves surged, and a series of explosions echoed from beneath the water. The massive shockwaves sent Yao Beasts within a radius of dozens of miles fleeing in panic.

Not far away, Fang Huai steered the fish leaping boat out of the water, speeding toward the Zheng Clan residence.

Before parting with Liu Xiange, he had specifically instructed her to escort the surviving Zheng Clan Members back to the Corpse Fiend Sect.

But he still couldn't put his mind at ease, so he decided to go and see for himself.

The water shimmered as fish leaped from the surface, presenting a scene of peace and tranquility.

The Zheng Clan residence was no different from how it had been half a month ago, except for the lack of any human presence.

Fang Huai spread out his Spiritual Qi, searching each house for people. A moment later, his brow furrowed.

The place was indeed deserted, but the bloodstains visible everywhere indicated that something unusual had occurred.

While he was lost in thought, a mangled corpse suddenly floated up from the bottom of the water, with a piece of thick rope tied around it.

Could it be?

Fang Huai shuddered and immediately steered the fish leaping boat down into the water.

The murky depths were actually filled with a dense mass of corpses!

These bodies had been tied to stones with ropes and sunk to the bottom.

Though they had been gnawed into a ragged state by Yao Beasts and fish, the despair and pain frozen on their faces were still clearly discernable.

Had Liu Xiange failed to do as he said?

Or had Sect Disciples arrived before her and slaughtered all the Zheng Clan Members?

Fang Huai really couldn't figure it out. Surely Liu Xiange hadn't killed them herself?

Or had some other accident occurred along the way?

Perhaps something else had happened?

He needed to return to the Sect quickly to see if Liu Xiange had made it back safely.

With that thought, Spiritual Qi surged around Fang Huai's body. He performed the Light Body Technique and rushed toward the Corpse Fiend Sect.