Breath Concealing Technique

"Hoo, hoo, hoo..."

"How dare you defy me, the one who has been summoned! Truly, truly audacious! Supreme Lord, ah, great Supreme Lord, grant me strength, grant me more strength!"

Amidst his ragged breaths, Zhang Song forced out a chilling, piercing sound from his throat, using his broken vocal cords.

Hearing these chaotic, mumbled words that only he himself could understand, Du En couldn't help but raise an eyebrow slightly.

If one were to disregard the possibility that this guy was a lunatic trapped in his own fabricated fantasy, then this so-called Supreme Lord and the summoning were real.

The figures behind the Evil Cultivators?

Du En quickly thought of that group.

Such individuals, lurking in the shadows, daring to kill and mutilate bodies in the territory of the Immortal Sect's border town, and yet remaining unpunished, clearly weren't ordinary folk.

If they had a so-called Supreme Lord hidden behind them, it was plausible and made sense.

Then, Du En, with a blank expression, hurled the shovel in his hand like a javelin.

It directly severed Zhang Song's neck, completely killing the man who had exhausted his last ounce of strength.

"You, ah! No, I..."

Zhang Song tried to say something more, but his head rolled, and he quickly lost all signs of life.

He was dead.

The others immediately relaxed completely, slumping to the ground and quietly recovering.

Du En's situation was still good. Because he strongly suspected this was someone related to the Evil Cultivators, he immediately retrieved his shovel and dug a hole nearby, intending to bury the opponent.

Soon, a pit was dug.

He then used the shovel, which was now mostly useless, to pry up the now truly deceased Zhang Song and move the corpse into the pit.

Along the way, a piece of white cloth floated down from the bloody corpse.

No, it was a piece of paper, or perhaps, human skin?

As Du En stared, this pale, thin, eye-catching piece of paper, as it fluttered, happened to unfurl a small corner towards him.

It was covered in tiny, dense characters. At first glance, they were neat, but looking at them for too long made one feel dizzy, with a slight sense of distortion appearing.

Of course, this might be something only Du En could see. If it were Wei Ming and the others, they likely wouldn't experience this.

The difference in their cultivation levels was significant, but clearly, even Du En's Minor Accomplishment in the Yellow Earth Technique could only stir up such a small ripple.

The small characters were clearly read and memorized the instant they entered his vision.

A spell, the Life Concealing Death Mimicking Art.

The spell Zhang Song used to pretend to be a corpse, and the spell Du En had been curious about just moments ago.

At this moment, it revealed a tip of the iceberg.

About thirty percent!

If you want to see the whole thing, then open it!

As long as you pick up and open this paper, all the spells written on it will be yours!

Silently, it seemed as if someone was whispering in his ear, and the greed that arose and spread urged Du En to pick it up and open it.

Anyway, he had taken things from corpses before. This was just doing it again, profiting from the dead once more, taking what was rightfully his!

So...

Du En, with a blank expression, shoveled it into the pit along with the dirt. Then, he shoveled the dirt mixed with Zhang Song's blood and other traces onto his head, burying everything in one pit.

He patted it down, and there was no more movement.

When it came to strangeness, burying corpses in this desolate land was no joke.

Who knew how many years, how many strange and sinister corpses had been buried here. There were never any reports of them causing harm, only their very existence made people feel deeply uneasy.

"Although it's only thirty percent of the content and incomplete, if I ponder over it, it shouldn't be a problem to figure out a basic version of the Breath Concealing Technique."

As long as he could figure it out, the rest would be a matter of accumulating practice and achieving it naturally!

So, trying to tempt him with a spell was simply too cheap!

The others were also starting to recover. As Du En turned around, they all exclaimed in admiration.

"Boss is truly mighty and domineering!"

"Amazing, boss! You even killed someone in the Mid-stage Qi Refining!"

"Isn't that right? I, Old Ning, cough cough... this is something I've lived long enough to see. If this got out, it would definitely shock those snobbish bastards!"

"..."

Hearing their words, Du En simply replied, "Without your cover and harassment, who knows what the outcome would have been."

"Modest! Boss is a modest person, I understand, I understand!"

"What do you call this? This is the demeanor of a master!"

"Cough, cough, Du En, we don't need to be modest at a time like this. Killing an enemy above your level in your first major fight is something worth bragging about anywhere!"

"..."

Seeing this, Du En didn't waste any more words on the topic. He simply said, "You all sound pretty energetic, so you can finish up the rest of the work. I need to rest a bit."

This was understandable; after a tough fight with Zhang Song, he indeed needed to rest.

The others didn't have any doubts. They had participated earlier, and although they were pushing all the credit onto Du En, they were actually quite excited. They immediately got up while discussing amongst themselves.

"Eat more, train more, that's the boss's secret to success!"

"Let's learn, let's learn! We must learn and follow the leader's example!"

"You guys, one by one, are too impatient! Cough cough... Save some energy. After we finish work, we need to catch a Great Owl. I have a new idea."

"……"

Listening to them get more and more enthusiastic, showing no signs of worry, Du En found a relatively clean spot and sat down cross-legged, focusing entirely on his own matters.

He was pondering the Breath Concealing Technique.

Surprisingly, it wasn't too difficult.

He extracted about thirty percent of the Life Concealing Death Mimicking Art, specifically the parts related to breath concealment, and then removed anything he couldn't fully grasp or that seemed problematic. This left him with only about five percent.

Then, he combined it with the inherent characteristics of the Yellow Earth Technique.

This low-grade Earth-element cultivation technique was devoid of any flashy tricks. It only possessed the most basic traits of Earth-element energy: silent support and slow accumulation.

In other words, it was inherently a "silent cultivation" method.

Du En had already reached the stage of Minor Accomplishment, so combining it naturally seemed simple.

Thus, by the time the others finished burying the remaining corpses, he had already mastered a new spell.

[Breath Concealing Technique (Beginner's Practice 0/10)]

Compared to the complete Life Concealing Death Mimicking Art, this was naturally the most basic version possible. However, it had no hidden dangers, was simple to practice, and barely consumed any Magic Power. It was more like adding a plugin to a cultivation technique.

Just like the Sand Raising Technique, he could practice it whenever he had a spare moment to accumulate proficiency.

However, this would have a slight impact on his practice of the Sand Raising Technique.

This was because his time and energy were now divided.

As Du En pondered these things, he was no longer in a state of practice. He then discovered that this spell had a lingering effect period, meaning a duration for its effects.

By observing it, he could determine the specific situation.

The effect would gradually weaken. It could maintain a relatively effective state for about the time it takes an incense stick to burn, but after half an hour, it would completely dissipate.

"I don't need to force continuous use all day right now. I'll maintain a balance of about ten uses per day for each, alongside the Sand Raising Technique..."

Du En finalized his plan.

At this moment, Wei Ming and the others had already approached. They hadn't noticed at all that Du En had been contemplating and practicing spells.

"Boss, the work is done."

Wei Ming sounded eager.

This task was completed, and the next step was to catch the Great Owls.

Due to the unexpected events of today, they were even more enthusiastic about Du En's secret of eating more and training more.

Their hope for a turnaround lay in this!

"Alright, let's go."

Du En nodded, tidied up his tools, and led the group, following the Strange Owls that had flown away, towards their lair.