Chapter 38: Chapter 38: Three Yin Verdant Blood Scripture

For the next twenty days, the Demon Alarm Bell rang sixteen times, but all the Demons that entered Huashan County’s territory were killed by the Independent Cultivators, causing no major disturbances. The Independent Cultivators who left the city reaped handsome rewards. Only one unlucky soul was gored by a Demon Bull’s sharp horn, which pierced his Armor and sent his intestines spilling out. His injuries were severe.

At midnight, Yang Jing sat cross-legged on the roof, circulating his qi. Because the Magical Power refined by the Five Elements Wheel was too pure, breaking through to the Fourth Layer of Qi Cultivation required him to accumulate Magical Power for even longer than an ordinary Cultivator.

He estimated that he would need at least another forty-five days to advance to the Fourth Layer of Qi Cultivation.

Unfortunately, there were almost no Spirit Plants around Huashan County, and the amount of Celestial Yang Qi in the air was pitifully scarce. He couldn’t even cultivate his True Yang Body.

After swallowing a Yellow Bud Pill to nourish his meridians, Yang Jing slowly ceased his practice. Suddenly, a series of five barks came from the distance—four short, and one long.

Yang Jing opened his eyes. It was the secret signal he had arranged with Iron Head.

He leaped down from the roof and followed the sound of the barking until he found Iron Head. Upon seeing Yang Jing, Iron Head began to whimper and circle his feet.

Yang Jing took out a piece of dried fish, fed it to him, and patted his head. After not seeing him for so many days, he had missed Iron Head a little.

“Did you find the Cultivators who snuck in?”

Iron Head gobbled down the dried fish in a few bites and nodded repeatedly.

The Cultivators who had infiltrated Huashan County were extremely vigilant, using a special technique to suppress their Magical Power fluctuations and pose as mortals. It wasn’t until yesterday that Iron Head discovered a slip-up.

Instead of coming to Yang Jing immediately, he had cautiously followed them to confirm their hiding spot before seeking Yang Jing out.

“How many are there? What’s their Power?”

Iron Head used his paw to draw the number three on the ground. Then, beside it, he added three more words: ’late,’ ’middle,’ and ’middle.’

Yang Jing nodded. He channeled his Magical Power, activated his Cloud Escape, and concealed his form. One Late Stage Qi Cultivation and two Middle Stage Qi Cultivation. With the element of surprise, it wouldn’t be difficult for him and Iron Head to deal with them.

He planned to scout them out first and see if an opportunity presented itself.

“Take me to them.”

Iron Head nodded, wiped away the marks on the ground, and trotted ahead, nimbly leading the way.

During the autumn defense period each year, the county seat was the only safe place in all of Huashan County. As a result, its population density was extremely high. Outside the residential district reserved for Cultivators, all sorts of houses were packed together, encroaching on the roads.

The northern district was especially crowded, with houses that were exceptionally narrow and cramped. Even with the Night Incense Men collecting waste daily, a foul stench still permeated the air, stinging the nostrils.

The smell made Iron Head sneeze repeatedly, and he hopped about carefully to avoid the filthy sewage on the ground.

Yang Jing glanced around. ’Cultivators cultivate by breathing in pure Spiritual Qi, so they’d naturally avoid the filth and impurities in the air here. If someone wanted to hide in Huashan County, this would indeed be the best place.’

After following the winding Stone Slab path for over a mile, Iron Head stopped cautiously and gestured with his head toward a somewhat dilapidated courtyard. The courtyard wall, built from rammed Yellow Earth, was clearly old. Parts of it were crumbling, and it was overgrown with weeds.

Yang Jing picked up Iron Head, activated his Cloud Escape, and silently rose into the air, hovering.

Inside the courtyard were three tile-roofed houses, all somewhat rundown.

He observed carefully from mid-air and discovered a Stealth Array covering the entire courtyard. This Array could block out sound, smells, and Magical Power fluctuations. No wonder it had taken Iron Head so long to find them.

If Iron Head hadn’t smelled the Demonic Qi accidentally leaked by one of the Demon Cultivators and then followed him here, it would have been impossible to discover this Stealth Array.

The Array also had a simple warning function, but given Yang Jing’s current Array Dao Mastery, it was practically useless against him.

He easily bypassed the Array and slipped into the courtyard.

As soon as he entered the Array, Yang Jing was hit by an overwhelming stench of blood, so pungent it was nauseating. He activated his Bright Qi Talent and could see three columns of Demonic Qi inside the middle house.

The Stealth Array must have been masking their Demonic Qi. Otherwise, the Demon Alarm Bell would have rung loud enough to wake the entire county seat.

Yang Jing had hesitated, wondering if he should open a gap in the Stealth Array to alert the other Cultivators in the city. But Demon Cultivators had many strange and sinister methods. The middling Independent Cultivators of San Yuanli might not be enough to stop them.

Carrying his Demon-slaying Sword, Yang Jing landed silently on the roof of the tile-roofed house.

Using his Cloud Escape, he silently enveloped a roof tile. Under the effect of the Cloud Escape, the tile instantly turned transparent.

Peering through the tile, Yang Jing witnessed an appalling scene inside the house.

In the middle of the room lay seven corpses, mostly the old, weak, sick, and disabled. Severed limbs and organs were also scattered about.

So many people had died here, yet there wasn’t a single trace of blood on the floor. The three Cultivators were sitting cross-legged around the bodies, using their Magical Power to force the blood out of the corpses and then Refining it.

Their gloomy Magical Power was a ghastly green, and as they refined the blood, it grew increasingly sinister and malevolent.

’The Three Yin Green Blood Scripture.’

Yang Jing immediately recognized the Cultivation Technique the three were practicing. Within the Dark Spring Demon Sect, the Three Yin Green Blood Scripture was a technique used to cultivate cannon fodder. This Cultivation Technique had very low requirements for one’s aptitude. To raise one’s Cultivation, besides absorbing Spiritual Qi, one could also refine all sorts of yin and turbid qi, as well as blood, into their Magical Power.

The more yin, turbid qi, and blood one refined, the more tyrannical their Magical Power became. The blood of mortals and Cultivators was the most effective.

Cultivating the Three Yin Green Blood Scripture wouldn’t sever one’s path to Foundation Establishment, even with such rapid progress. However, after reaching Foundation Establishment, it was nearly impossible to increase one’s Magical Power further, leaving them stuck at the First Layer of Foundation Establishment.

The Dark Spring Demon Sect used this method to cultivate a considerable number of Foundation Establishment Cultivators. Although their Power was on the weaker side for their stage, they remained a major headache for the Six Great Sects.

A moment later, all the blood had been forced out of the corpses, leaving behind shriveled, desiccated husks.

A trace of sorrow flickered in Yang Jing’s eyes. Most of these victims were the family members of the able-bodied youth from outside the county seat. Because of the autumn defense, those young people couldn’t enter the city to escape the Demons, so they had sent their relatives in ahead of them.

Lacking money, they could only take on odd jobs during the day and sleep under the eaves of others’ houses at night to shelter from the elements.

Yang Jing gripped the hilt of his Demon-slaying Sword.

His Celestial True Yang was extremely effective at suppressing Demon Skills. His chances of victory weren’t small. He was ready to make his move.

“Fifth Brother, after Refining the blood from these few blood-offerings, my Magical Power has greatly increased. I might even break through to the Late Stage of Qi Cultivation in a few days.”

One of the Cultivators slowly retracted all his Magical Power into his Dantian, his face flushed with a ruddy glow.

“It’s a good thing you snatched this mission from Fifth Uncle for us, Fifth Brother. If we were cooped up in the mountains, where would we find so many blood-offerings to help our training?”

The other Cultivator chimed in with his own flattery.

The Cultivator sitting between the two had the deepest cultivation, and it took him the longest to withdraw the ghastly green Magical Power back into his body.

“When you get back to the clan, you absolutely must restrain your Magical Power. Don’t let the uncles find out we’ve been capturing blood-offerings in Huashan County to practice our skills.”

He was about to say a few more words when a sharp CRACK of a breaking tile sounded from above. A shadow, wrapped in shattered tile fragments, fell from the sky.

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