Inner Fire

Of course it's expensive!

You want to buy the Fate of a Fate Cultivator for just one Silver Bean?

How is that possible?

This is "forced buying and selling." The Merchant Law cannot be fulfilled, and because the price difference is too great, it has severely backfired on the Law Cultivator.

Xu Yuan, knowing this very well, accepted the Law Cultivator's Life-Buying Money without hesitation.

The Pill Cultivator rushed forward without a second thought, spitting twice into his palm.

His spit splashed out sparks!

Two balls of flame quickly ignited on his palms, and the Pill Cultivator swung his palms towards Xu Yuan!

Pill Cultivators refine Pills using their Inner Fire, and they can also expel their Inner Fire to attack enemies.

However, this Pill Cultivator is not yet Enter Stream. His Inner Fire has not yet taken shape, so he can only draw out fire and attach it to his palms to increase his power.

Xu Yuan leaped onto a nearby giant rock. The Pill Cultivator pursued him closely, striking the rock with his palms, leaving two scorched handprints!

The Pill Cultivator's "fire" naturally countered many evil spirits. Something in the forest had been lurking in the dark, but as soon as the fire appeared, it scurried away rapidly.

Xu Yuan, looking down from above, suddenly took out the bamboo cage and threw it at the Pill Cultivator's head: "Take this!"

The bamboo cage fell from the air. The Pill Cultivator tilted his head up and saw a small bamboo cage used for catching insects. He sneered and waved his hand to swat it away.

Flames blazed on his palm, about to engulf the small bamboo cage and burn it to ashes.

But the bamboo cage suddenly expanded. Though it was very small, it was quite elastic!

The bamboo strips stretched, and the gaps between them widened.

When used to catch insects, these gaps were very small to prevent them from escaping.

Now, used to catch a person, larger gaps were naturally fine.

The small bamboo cage instantly grew to the size of half a room. The Pill Cultivator, looking up, struck upwards with his palm. From a distance, it looked as if he was willingly climbing into the bamboo cage himself!

Whoosh--

The bamboo cage descended, trapping the Pill Cultivator inside.

The Pill Cultivator was unconcerned. He parted his hands, and flames erupted.

The bamboo strips were thin and light, easily broken with a casual touch. The flames would surely turn them to ash.

However, the result was vastly different from what the Pill Cultivator expected. Under his Inner Fire, the bamboo strips were like steel. They grew redder and redder but did not ignite!

He pushed outwards with his hands, but the bamboo strips did not break.

Not only that, but the cage contracted inwards. The tips of the bamboo strips, from various angles, pierced the Pill Cultivator's body in an unbelievable manner!

As the cage shrank, the bamboo strips pierced deeper!

The bamboo strips, heated red-hot by his own Inner Fire, pierced into his body, searing his flesh and causing it to smoke and emit a smell like burnt pig hair...

Furthermore, each bamboo strip pierced either an acupoint or precisely severed a meridian.

This could not possibly be a coincidence!

The Pill Cultivator was instantly immobilized.

Two bamboo strips aimed for his eyes, and four crossed through his mouth. He couldn't even speak.

The heavily injured Law Cultivator's eyes widened: "You, you, you... you're an Artisan Cultivator!?"

Xu Yuan was certainly not an Artisan Cultivator—his Stepmother was.

When his Stepmother kicked Xu Yuan out of the house, she had to give him something for self-defense.

This cage wasn't just not Enter Stream; even the Inner Fire of a Seventh Stream Pill Cultivator couldn't damage it.

The Bronze Skin Iron Bones of a Seventh Stream Martial Cultivator would be pierced by the bamboo strips with a single stab.

Xu Yuan walked towards the Law Cultivator, who retreated in fear: "You, don't come near me!"

At this moment, the scarlet ominous signs in both of their Green Lives had almost completely covered their original life colors.

Xu Yuan compared the Law Cultivator and the Pill Cultivator back and forth, finally taking out his own shed skin and stuffing the Pill Cultivator into it.

Xu Yuan was sixteen this year and still growing.

The Pill Cultivator was taller than him and a bit plump.

Xu Yuan had to use some "Family Tradition" techniques to get him stuffed in.

This technique was learned from his Stepmother before the Lunar New Year, when her hometown had the custom of slaughtering pigs and making sausages.

Anyway, in the years since his Stepmother married into the family, Xu Yuan's standard of living had greatly improved.

The Law Cultivator watched from the side, utterly horrified—not because of Xu Yuan's "Family Tradition" techniques; he had done similar things himself, and they were not uncommon in those times.

What terrified him was... that skin was clearly this kid's!

Do people... shed their skin?!

He had never heard of any cultivator possessing such a method!

Could this guy have already turned into an evil spirit and be lurking in Qihetan Town?

But looking at his "lifelike" appearance, he really didn't seem like one.

"W-what are you doing?" the Law Cultivator's voice trembled. The backlash from his spell was getting stronger and stronger, leaving him incredibly weak.

Xu Yuan glanced at him and pointed to a nearby giant rock. "Stand under that, and I'll tell you."

The Law Cultivator instinctively felt: I can't go there!

This kid is going to make a move on me!

Even though he knew his current state meant he probably couldn't escape, anyone would struggle for survival in the face of death.

Without hesitation, the Law Cultivator charged in the opposite direction—straight into the woods!

Swish, swish, swish...

Dense, strange sounds erupted from the forest, followed by the Law Cultivator's screams.

The Snake Vines had finally had their fill!

In the past, when the Snake Vines tried to eat Xu Yuan, they always felt like they were being tricked, seeing a piece of meat only to find it was a piece of ginger in their mouths.

Xu Yuan didn't make the same mistake as Big-and-Small Eyes and the Burly Man. After the sounds inside stopped, he smeared a layer of Realgar Powder on himself and walked into the woods.

Those Snake Vines absolutely detest this guy! He always uses this stuff against us!

And yet, we can't do anything about it.

We're snakes, how can we not be afraid of realgar?

The Snake Vines slithered back into the depths of the forest with a swish, swish, swish. Then, from among the trees and grass, they raised their heads and hissed menacingly at Xu Yuan.

Xu Yuan ignored them. He checked and found only a skeleton left in the woods, still stained with blood.

The flesh, internal organs, and everything else had already been eaten by the Snake Vines.

A bag lay on the ground. Xu Yuan picked it up and saw it was full of money.

A small gold ingot, about five taels.

Two ten-tael silver ingots, plus ten pieces of assorted silver, Silver Beans, and so on.

Additionally, there were dozens of copper coins.

These were all "Life-Buying Money" made by the Law Cultivator.

Xu Yuan pocketed them without any pretense of politeness.

By the time Xu Yuan exited the woods, the skin and the Pill Cultivator inside had shrunk into a plaster.

It looked like the dog-skin plaster sold by Grandpa Shen next door to his house.

However, Grandpa Shen sold his goods at a cheap price with generous quantity; his plaster was thick with ointment. This one, however, only had a thin layer.

Xu Yuan suddenly felt the analogy wasn't quite right. This was his own skin, how could it be like dog-skin plaster?

Xu Yuan placed the plaster on his own navel.

The layer of ointment was visibly and rapidly absorbed. Afterward, Xu Yuan felt a ball of fire rise within his belly.

The Pill Cultivator's "Inner Fire"!

Now, Xu Yuan was not only a Fate Cultivator but also a Pill Cultivator.

This shed skin wasn't waste; it had another use: "refinement."

When shedding this layer of skin, Xu Yuan already knew it had an additional purpose.

However, one layer of skin could only be used once, and the function of each layer was different. Xu Yuan didn't know what the next layer of skin would do when it shed.

At that time, Xu Yuan had already realized: this June Bug was no ordinary Medicinal Guide for Fate Cultivators!

He had never heard of any Fate Imprint that could be immune to the contamination of evil spirits, nor had he ever heard of Fate Cultivators shedding their skin