Chapter 102: 102 Returning to the Mountains to Graze Cattle
"If you covet my Pill Technique, then don't blame me for eyeing your spell," Zhou Yi thought quickly, yet his face remained filled with smiles. When it was his turn to speak about spells, he slowly said.
"I am not as adept in Alchemy Technique as Ling Xu, my fellow Daoist, so let me talk about the Lightning Method..."
The Lightning Method!
Ling Xu's brows slightly furrowed, but as he continued listening, he found the method to be completely different from what he had learned before. Confident in the subtlety of his Art of Transformation, he let go of his suspicions.
Zhou Yi, having meditated on the Five Thunder Technique for over a hundred years since his Foundation Establishment, had new insights about the spell that he recounted effortlessly.
The listeners were so engrossed that even long after Zhou Yi finished speaking, they remained lost in thought, contemplating his words.
The gathering ended successfully, and Zhou Yi bid goodbye to his fellow Daoists.
After distancing himself, he transformed into an unfamiliar white-haired elder and covertly observed Ling Xu's movements.
Ling Xu went about his usual routine of meditating, Qi Cultivation, and chanting the Pill Technique, continuing like this for several days.
"Could it be that there are such similar people in the world?"
Just as Zhou Yi was pondering how to test him, Ling Xu made a new move.
Ling Xu left his cave abode, flew out of the Little Dan Mountain from the north side, and after traveling over a hundred miles with a Magic Artifact, he entered a nameless cave.
Zhou Yi didn't follow him inside but chose a different direction and activated the Earth Traveling Bead to enter the mountain's body. Guessing he was close to the cave, his Divine Sense swept over and indeed found Ling Xu setting up Formation Flags.
Around the Formation Flags stood an ancient and decrepit tombstone, as well as objects like Tomb Guarding Beasts and tomb doors.
"Is he forging a cultivator's tomb? It must be Xuan Qing, that scoundrel!"
Zhou Yi didn't attack immediately but copied the technique and set up a minor Five Elements Formation at the entrance of the cave, hiding nearby ready to ambush.
Even when hunting rabbits, a lion uses all its strength!
Xuan Qing or Ling Xu, whoever it was, had likely trapped and killed many cultivators, and it was possible that they obtained several terrifying trump cards that could even kill a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
About two or three hours passed.
Ling Xu finished setting up the Formation, which seemed only partially complete, and would likely need more time before he could start to deceive and trap victims.
As he walked to the mouth of the cave, ready to ride his Magic Artifact into the sky, suddenly his vision was filled with vast expanses of multicolored clouds.
"A Formation? Someone has followed me!"
Ling Xu channeled his mana, reaching to pull talismans from his storage bag when a dozen bolts of lightning came crashing down.
Hum, hum, hum!
A series of glowing lights flashed as five or six protective Magic Artifacts automatically activated, managing to block all the lightning bolts, but Zhou Yi gave Ling Xu no chance to react and immediately sent down three or four more waves of lightning.
Boom, boom, boom!
Confused and unresponsive, Ling Xu turned into a charred corpse, then a flying sword slashed over, chopping the body into seven or eight pieces.
Zhou Yi emerged from underground, took the storage bag from Ling Xu, waved his hand to call down a few more bolts of lightning, turning all the corpse fragments into ashes, leaving nothing behind, not even a vengeful ghost or a zombie.
"The feeling of overpowering through higher realms is indeed quite delightful!"
...
He casually found an unnamed cave.
Zhou Yi turned his mana into a hand, grabbed the storage bag from Ling Xu, and from several yards away opened it.
Clink, clink, clink!
A few hundred items of all sorts fell out, Magic Artifacts, books, jade slips, and so on, piling up into a small hill.
"How many cultivators has this scoundrel killed?"
Remembering Ling Xu's cautious style, Zhou Yi noted he had purchased five or six protective Magic Artifacts, so he went into the mountains to catch a few wild rabbits and threw them onto the pile of items.
The rabbits convulsed, cried out pitifully, and turned into pus.
"He killed about a dozen people single-handedly, even with the help of Formations, couldn't he anticipate accidents, hence he prepared for the eventuality of dying and his Dao disappearing?"
Zhou Yi used the Spiritual Rain Technique to repeatedly wash the items. After a thorough cleansing, he tested them with wild rabbits again, and the deadly poison was nowhere to be found.
"In the future, when I gain spoils of war from duels, I must test them with living creatures to prevent encounters with such treacherous items... Hm, I should also find some extreme poisons that could turn a Foundation Establishment cultivator, so if I can't win a fight, I'll throw my storage bag and escape!"
In the Cultivation World, there were indeed extreme poisons, and some Cultivation Techniques specifically focused on poison. Among the more famous ones were Corpse Poison and Gu Poison.
Zhou Yi flipped through Ling Xu's relics one by one, most of which were mid to low-grade magic artifacts. Some books were quite useful and he sorted and stored them accordingly.
He examined each jade slip, finding many notes on alchemy, detailing how to ensure each pellet of Yuan-enrichment pills was of top quality, mentioning the refinement of spiritual medicines, control of the flame, and pill condensation techniques.
"With such skills in crafting, one could make a living earning spirit stones, yet choosing to kill and set fires instead!"
Zhou Yi continued to search for his objective and finally found the Art of Transformation in one of the jade slips.
The "Shape-Shifting Technique"
The creator of this technique had observed the transformation of demon races, completely changing form and aura, thereby gaining insight and ultimately creating this transformation method. When a cultivator used it, even those close to him could hardly spot any flaw due to the drastic change in aura.
Half a month later.
Zhou Yi performed hand seals, mana circulating, as he slowly transformed from a youth to a simple-looking middle-aged man.
"This technique is marvelous!"
"Perfect for going to Tianyang Abyss to visit Xuan Yu. If she doesn't recognize me, I'll seek mentorship from the Pill Cauldron Sect. If she sees through my disguise, with my current strength, I could easily escape!"
"The latter isn't a problem either, just wait several decades or centuries, and outlive Xuan Yu!"
...
To the southeast of Chu State.
On the edge of Tianyang Abyss.
As Zhou Yi passed through the center of Chu State, he clearly sensed the whereabouts of the yellow bull, just a hundred li away.
"After seeing Xuan Yu, I'll take the yellow bull with me. If I join the Pill Cauldron Sect, the yellow bull would be a significant flaw and would need to be dealt with!"
He leaped into the abyss, and as he neared the marketplace's formation, stood suspended in the air and gently touched it with his mana.
A moment later.
Xuan Yu flew out from the mist; decades had passed, her appearance unchanged, but her expression was even colder.
Zhou Yi smiled and greeted her, "I've had the pleasure of meeting the real person Xuan Yu. I am Sha Wu, a loose cultivator from Chu State, and have luckily achieved Foundation Establishment. I've come especially to ask about joining the Pill Cauldron Sect!"
"So it is Friend Sha!"
Xuan Yu, aware of his intentions, showed a hint of a smile, "There's no need for other troubles; my recommendation is sufficient. After entering the sect, my master will assign duties to you."
"That sounds wonderful."
Zhou Yi got closer and deliberately stared at Xuan Yu's face, teasingly asking, "I wonder, how many in the sect share a similar beauty with you?"
"Seeking death!"
Xuan Yu's brows furrowed sharply, and she sent dozens of fireballs hurling towards him with a wave of her hand.
Zhou Yi had anticipated this and turned into a streak of escape light, flying out of Tianyang Abyss and burrowing northward beneath the ground to flee.
"Given Xuan Yu's temper, she would have unleashed an attack had she recognized me."
"We only fought for a few moments back then, and even if she retained a trace of aura, it would hardly last for decades. Besides, now that I've used the Shape-Shifting Technique, even my mana aura has changed!"
"With this, I can join the Pill Cauldron Sect with ease!"
Zhou Yi, following the blood covenant sensing, arrived amidst surrounding mountains.
The place was only twenty or thirty li from the yellow bull's location. Zhou Yi emerged from underground, activated the soul pact, and called the yellow bull out.
About half an hour later.
The yellow bull, stepping on clouds, flew out from the mountains, falling beside Zhou Yi and affectionately nudging him with its head.
Moo!
From the sound of the yellow bull's moo, Zhou Yi learned that it had run towards Da Qian right before Xuan Yu returned to the marketplace years ago.
Along the way, it met a cultivator from Chu who subdued it with his spells, pampering the bull daily in hopes of making it recognize him as its master and then protecting Chu State for two or three hundred years.
"Fortunately, I fattened up the bull, or else... once the real person of Chu's lifespan wanes, I'll claim the spiritual lands of Chu State and seize the family inheritance!"
Moo!
The yellow bull, well aware of its master's temperament and not counting on revenge, nodded in agreement.
"Bull, in some days, you will have to join the Pill Cauldron Sect."
"Go and cultivate in the Hundred Thousand Mountains, take over a territory to manage. If the Pill Cauldron Sect ever faces a crisis, and all of Cloud Continent becomes unsafe, I will come to the mountains to seek refuge with you!"
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