Tentative Probe

Chapter 21: Probing

Hearing this, Shi Yue's brows furrowed tightly. After a brief deliberation, he slapped the hilt of the red short sword with his left hand, and the blade shot forth, streaking toward the stone house.

With a "bang," the red short sword struck the stone house, leaving not the slightest trace behind.

Seeing this, Shi Yue's face was full of shock. The Red Moon Sword was a High-grade Magic Tool, yet it couldn't leave even a mark on the stone house.

"Little fellow, don't bother. Not even a Qi Refining Stage cultivator using a magic tool, nor a Core Formation Cultivator wielding a dharma treasure, could damage this stone house in the slightest." A faint male voice sounded.

Shi Yue's expression darkened at these words. He directed the Red Moon Sword to hack at the stone house repeatedly, but it still couldn't leave any trace.

Shi Yue took a deep breath and waved his right hand. The Red Moon Sword circled once and returned to his grasp.

"Who exactly are you, and why are you hiding here?" Shi Yue asked in a deep voice.

"Hiding? Ridiculous. This old man has always been here; there's no 'hiding' to speak of." The male voice was filled with disdain.

"Always been here? So you mean you know everything I've done here?" Shi Yue's brows tightened, and a cold glint flashed in his eyes.

"I know. Rest assured, I won't harm you, or I'd have struck long ago. Little fellow, do you want to become a strong cultivator?" The man spoke in a tempting tone.

"Of course I do. What, can you help me?" Shi Yue narrowed his eyes and said solemnly.

"Heh heh, I won't boast about other things, but helping you form a Nascent Soul before a hundred years old is no problem." The man chuckled, his words brimming with confidence.

"Form a Nascent Soul within a hundred years?" Shi Yue's breathing grew rapid at this.

The Great Void Sect's foothold in the Great Tang relied not only on its exquisite alchemy but also heavily on its Supreme Elder, a Nascent Soul Cultivator.

To put it bluntly, a Nascent Soul Cultivator could walk sideways through the Great Tang, with no one daring to offend them in the slightest.

If Shi Yue became a Nascent Soul Cultivator, not only would Steward Wang dare not bully him, but even the Great Void Sect's Sect Leader would have to treat him with courtesy.

However, Shi Yue never believed in pies falling from the sky. Someone suddenly popping up, claiming they could help him form a Nascent Soul before a hundred—it seemed impossible no matter how he looked at it. The other party likely had ulterior motives.

Suddenly, a terrifying thought struck Shi Yue—Body Seizure.

When his parents were alive, they had told him many secrets and legends of the Cultivation World, repeatedly mentioning Body Seizure. Some High-level Cultivators who made mistakes in their cultivation or suffered severe injuries would abandon their Physical Body to seize the body of a cultivator weaker than themselves.

If the Body Seizure succeeded, the original owner of the body would naturally no longer exist in this world.

At this thought, Shi Yue's heart tightened. He quickly stepped back, staring at the stone house with a tense expression.

"Why are you moving so far away? It's not like I'll eat you. This old man possesses the cultivation methods of a Top-grade Cultivation Method and understands both tool refinement and alchemy. With my help, you forming a Nascent Soul before a hundred is no problem." The man's voice was full of confidence.

"I don't believe in pies falling from the sky. You have a purpose in helping me raise my realm, don't you?" Shi Yue's eyes were filled with suspicion.

"Heh heh, of course I have a purpose. I help you raise your realm, and you give me Spirit Stones. How about that?"

"How many?" Shi Yue asked after a moment's thought.

"That depends on what you want. If it's just an ordinary technique, a few dozen Spirit Stones will do. If it's a complete Top-grade Cultivation Method, it'll cost tens of thousands of Spirit Stones."

"Are you a Tool Spirit?" Shi Yue asked after a long silence.

He had heard from his parents that, generally, to increase a dharma treasure's power, a powerful spirit soul would be sealed inside during its forging to serve as a Tool Spirit.

"Tool Spirit? Hmm, something like that."

"This is the first time I've heard of a Tool Spirit needing to eat Spirit Stones. You're not sealed here and need to absorb the spiritual energy from Spirit Stones to break the seal, are you?" Shi Yue said uncertainly, suspicion thick in his eyes.

"Hmph, how could a Qi Refining Stage cultivator like you know the wonders of the Heaven Controlling Bead? Believe it or not, if you want advanced cultivation methods or other scriptures, feel free to come to me. But let me make it clear: Spirit Stones first, then the goods."

Hearing this, Shi Yue's face flickered with uncertainty before he withdrew from the Mysterious Space.

A mysterious person had suddenly appeared out of nowhere in the Mysterious Space, and Shi Yue was full of worry.

Judging by the voice alone, Shi Yue guessed the mysterious person was quite old, likely in his fifties or sixties. He was definitely not a Tool Spirit; more likely, for some reason, he was sealed inside the stone house in the Mysterious Space and couldn't leave for now.

The mysterious person wanted Spirit Stones from Shi Yue, probably to absorb enough spiritual energy to break the seal. When that happened, the first to suffer would be Shi Yue.

The thought of a mysterious person lurking in the Mysterious Space, ready to seize his body at any moment, made Shi Yue's face darken. The excitement from gaining three extra Spirit Fields vanished entirely.

It was only natural. Anyone who knew they might be taken over at any moment would hardly be able to stay cheerful.

After much deliberation, Shi Yue decided that until he came up with a countermeasure, it was best not to enter the Mysterious Space again. Otherwise, if the other party found an opening to seize his body, it would be trouble.

Of course, all of this was just Shi Yue's speculation. He knew too little about Body Seizure to make a very accurate judgment, and he wasn't sure what the actual situation was.

As for seeking help from senior sect members, Shi Yue never even considered it. If he asked them for help, he'd be exposing the secret of the Mysterious Space, and then he wouldn't even know how he died.

After a brief thought, he decided to go to the Scripture Repository to look up records on Body Seizure and see if he could find a way to deal with it.

With this in mind, Shi Yue left his courtyard and flew toward the Scripture Repository on his magic tool.

Shi Yue spent a whole day in the Scripture Repository before finding a jade slip recording information on Body Seizure. He spent ten Spirit Stones to copy its contents.

Back at his residence, Shi Yue immediately took out the copied Jade Slip and pressed it to his forehead.

A quarter of an hour later, Shi Yue set down the Jade Slip, a thoughtful expression on his face.

Body Seizure had three ironclad rules:

First, a Cultivator must not perform Body Seizure on a mortal; otherwise, the seized body would collapse from being unable to withstand the act.

Second, only a Cultivator with higher magical power can successfully seize the body of a lower-powered Cultivator without suffering backlash, and the greater the gap in power, the safer it is.

Third, a Cultivator, regardless of their power level, can only perform Body Seizure once in their lifetime. If they attempt a second time, their Primordial Spirit will inexplicably dissipate.

The Jade Slip mentioned several methods to counter Body Seizure. The first was Talismans—some Talismans could prevent one from being seized, but they were not only expensive but also single-use consumables.

There were also special magic tools that, when carried on one's person, could have a similar effect. Of course, these tools were even more costly.

Beyond that, one could directly inscribe certain special Spiritual Patterns onto the Physical Body, which could also suppress Body Seizure to some extent, though this method came with certain aftereffects.

Among these three methods, the easiest to accomplish was naturally the third.