Three Forms

Tu Shan Jun left.

Leaving behind a lonely grave.

The pit was dug with that spirit sword, and it was very deep.

Wild dogs couldn't dig that deep.

In the end, people still need to be buried to rest in peace.

Neither Zhao Shi Xian nor Hou Boxu could afford a storage bag, so they could only use storage talismans.

Opening a storage talisman only required magic power as thick as a hair.

Zhao Shi Xian's storage talisman contained very little of value.

A cultivation manual, the Blood Fiend Great Method.

A slightly damaged-looking talisman, and three regular blue stone blocks.

With the knowledge from the manual, Tu Shan Jun recognized it as a Divine Travel Talisman, but it could only be used two more times at most.

The stone blocks were the common currency, Spirit Stones, low-grade.

Half a piece of incomplete, unknown beast hide, recording three moves.

It was precisely the Three Forms of Demonic Ape Intent Fist.

The remaining bottles and jars were all relatively common items: a change of clothes, some dried food like steamed buns and drinking water, and broken silver.

There was also a rough map.

If this item were found in an ordinary household, it would be a capital offense.

But for cultivators, the power of the secular imperial court wasn't that great.

Tu Shan Jun was now using this rough map to determine which way he should go.

As for Hou Boxu's storage talisman, Tu Shan Jun didn't open it, swallowing it into his stomach for storage.

The Venerable Soul Banner wasn't strong enough yet and had no internal space; the only place it could store things was the master soul.

Fortunately, the master soul didn't need to eat, drink, or excrete.

That hairpin spirit sword didn't need to be avoided, but it consumed a huge amount of magic power.

The little bit of magic power left couldn't be used for long anyway, so he simply threw it into the storage talisman and locked it away.

During the dog days of summer, the scorching sun hung high.

Tu Shan Jun walked forward burdened, feeling as if he were dragging a dead body on his back.

There was no sweat pouring down like rain, only an inexplicable fatigue.

Originally, Tu Shan Jun wanted to travel at midnight, but the magic power stored in the banner slave's body was slowly dissipating, leaving Tu Shan Jun no choice but to keep moving.

If he stopped in the wilderness, he wouldn't know when he would encounter a living person.

Ten days or half a month would be fine, but what if no one picked up the Venerable Soul Banner for a year or two? Would he have to wait forever?

Tu Shan Jun didn't want to sit and wait for death; he had to at least go to a place with more people.

Tu Shan Jun didn't know how long he had walked, but the magic power stored in the banner slave was completely dry.

The sight that met his eyes, however, filled Tu Shan Jun with surprise. He had finally reached the roadside.

It wasn't a country path, but a dusty, well-maintained main road.

It was compacted with wooden blocks to prevent weeds from growing, and aside from being muddy on rainy days, it was quite convenient.

"Thud."

The corpse fell heavily into the roadside weeds.

Tu Shan Jun threw the scattered silver coins to the side and then faked the appearance of Zhao Shi Xian dying while clutching the Venerable Soul Banner tightly.

At this point, only the last bit of magic power, as thin as a hair, remained.

In the end, he could only helplessly return to the Venerable Soul Banner and quietly wait for a fated person.

On the official road, very few common people dared to travel during this scorching sun.

Tu Shan Jun waited for a long time but saw no sign of anyone.

If it weren't for the fresh animal droppings on the road, he would have even thought that this official road wasn't used much.

"Rumble."

The sound of the ground shaking, as if a large group of people were charging.

In a short while, he saw black-armored cavalry escorting carriages coming from the official road.

A large black flag embroidered with the character 'Zhang'.

The overwhelming killing intent that rushed towards him immediately invigorated Tu Shan Jun, who was hiding in the Venerable Soul Banner.

He smelled a strong scent of blood; these black-armored cavalry, less than a hundred of them, must have just returned from a bloody battle.

If he could join the army, he wouldn't lack living souls and killing intent for advancement.

Tu Shan Jun's wish was a good one, but the reality was that the black-armored cavalry, escorting the carriage, sped past from the side in a flash, with no intention of stopping at all.

They were in a hurry, their expressions serious and anxious.

Not only did no one notice the corpse in the weeds by the roadside, but even if they had, it wouldn't have been a big deal to them.

They had more important things to do.

Tu Shan Jun wanted to use the last bit of his magic power to manifest, but while he was thinking, this group of cavalry had already galloped a hundred meters away.

"What a pity," Tu Shan Jun sighed softly.

Since he had already missed the opportunity, he stopped dwelling on it and focused on the present.

Could it be that the silver was placed in too hidden a spot?

Or is it that this body of Zhao Shi Xian doesn't look like that of an extraordinary expert?

The silver scattered in the grass was indeed not obvious.

Furthermore, Zhao Shi Xian's body was severely injured, his vital energy depleted, and he was covered in dirt from digging the grave, so he looked no different from a beggar now.

Tu Shan Jun gritted his teeth and used the last shred of his magic power to throw the silver to a conspicuous spot by the roadside.

When someone came later, they would definitely see the corpse by following the silver.

He didn't know the time inside the banner.

While waiting for someone to arrive, Tu Shan Jun started practicing the Demonic Ape Intent Fist himself.

There wasn't much space inside the Venerable Soul Banner, just enough to cram in over a hundred Yin Soul Ghost Creatures, all with blank expressions and vacant eyes.

Tu Shan Jun's master soul was in the center, comprehending and extracting the cultivation technique seed from Zhao Shi Xian.

The Three Forms of Demonic Ape Intent Fist.

The first form, Old Ape Hanging Seal.

Its form resembled a hunched ape, old and decrepit. This form was meant for standing stance and building a foundation.

It was also the starting posture of the Demonic Ape Intent Fist.

He tried the feeling over a dozen times before finding the optimal state and completing the movements exactly as depicted on the beast hide.

After starting, Tu Shan Jun felt as if countless fleas had appeared on his body, hopping back and forth, causing unbearable itching.

But he couldn't scratch. If he scratched, the posture would be broken, and the effort would be wasted.

He maintained the entire posture for the time it takes an incense stick to burn.

Next was the second form, Demonic Ape Worshiping the Moon.

At this point, the ape was no longer old and decrepit, but like a fierce beast released from its cage.

The beast hide completely depicted the muscle lines and blood flow during Demonic Ape Worshiping the Moon, even clearly marking the bones.

Unfortunately, a killing move was a killing move, and it was useless for a soul body master soul like Tu Shan Jun.

This move was meant to fully unleash the suppressed frenzy from the beginning.

In fact, many people were timid about striking.

To practice a killing move, one must cultivate a trace of malevolent energy in their chest. This malevolent energy allows one to dare to strike.

"Finally, someone has come."

Tu Shan Jun opened his eyes, a smile on his face.

"Young Master, look what this is."

"It's silver! I wonder who dropped it on the ground." The servant boy wearing a four-cornered hat picked up the silver and ran to the scholar as if presenting flowers.

The scholar in a green robe, holding an umbrella, smiled and said, "I wonder who was careless enough to let you pick up a windfall."

But as soon as his words fell, the scholar's face instantly turned pale, pointing at the grass beside the servant boy.

"It's a person."

The servant boy jumped in fright, only then realizing that it was a person lying in the grass by the roadside.

"Hey, who are you?"

"Speak up."

He shouted for a long time without a response, then squatted down to check, reaching out to feel for breath.

"Young Master, he's dead."

At this point, the scholar in the green robe also put away the precious sword at his waist and stepped forward to examine Zhao Shi Xian's condition.

"Looking at him, he doesn't seem like someone from a poor family."

"Huh?"

The scholar finally noticed the Venerable Soul Banner tightly held in Zhao Shi Xian's hand.

He reached out and pried it open. The tightly clenched hand relaxed, and the Venerable Soul Banner, wrapped in a flag-like shape, was picked up by the scholar in the green robe.

The scholar in the green robe examined it carefully: "It doesn't look like an ordinary item. It seems to be made of cold jade."

"But why can't I open this silk surface?"

Tu Shan Jun felt helpless.

Most people, seeing the lifelike ghost face on the banner surface, would surely not dare to pick it up.

So he used his magic power to fold up the entire banner surface.

Only with magic power could it be reopened.

This green-robed scholar had no magic power and was not a cultivator.

However, Tu Shan Jun had kept a trick up his sleeve. The Blood Fiend Great Method could help those with spiritual roots cultivate. As long as the scholar had spiritual roots, there was a chance.

While the scholar was picking up the Venerable Soul Banner, the servant boy had already stripped Zhao Shi Xian bare.

He even searched his underwear, afraid of missing a single copper coin.

"Young Master, there's a book here."

To his disappointment, besides the less than five taels of broken silver, there was only this one book.