Gourd

Li Fan rode his Sword Light and flew north along the path of corpses.

The vast majority of the corpses were not from combat wounds; most people died from freezing.

According to Li Fan's speculation, this Northern Expedition was probably defeated head-on, or its camp was attacked and destroyed. In any case, it lost its organization and could not get support and supplies, so it lost morale, abandoned its armor and weapons, and collapsed in a rout.

Even these soldiers, who were used to fighting and risking their lives, probably did not want to die on the frozen land of this foreign land. They all wanted to cross mountains and rivers to return to the Central Plains and their hometowns. They wanted to die in the warmth of their homeland. So they all fled towards Yinshan.

But even a mountain can be a long way to reach, and this distance would take Li Fan's Nascent Soul Stage flying sword a while to traverse. These soldiers, after all, had not yet surpassed human limits, and ultimately could not escape.

Continuing north, Li Fan also discovered a makeshift campfire buried by hail and a large number of wounded soldiers who had frozen to death. It seemed that this defeated army had encountered a blizzard or frost during their retreat, resulting in a sudden drop in temperature, a natural disaster.

But whether this was a wicked spell cast by the demons under the Chanyu's command, a sneak attack, or simply a matter of fate, Li Fan couldn't say for sure.

In short, the person is dead, so what else is there to say...?

Further north, you'll find living creatures.

The Fourth Department barbarian soldiers who hunted down Hu Barbarians remnants of their army; the herdsmen and slaves who stripped the clothes off of their clothes to collect military supplies; the heretical sects who dismembered and removed the heart, eyes, and brains on the spot; and the demons and monsters who devoured flesh and blood for a hearty meal.

A chaotic dance of demons, a grand feast to be enjoyed.

When Li Fan saw cavalry led by Golden Core cultivator within his Divine Sense range, Li Fan knew he had encountered scouts and was likely very close to the Chanyu's army. However, relying on the wider range of his Divine Sense, Li Fan easily avoided them by hiding in the clouds.

After that, he would encounter a pair of Sentinel every ten miles. Judging from their reconnaissance and the direction of their march, he estimated that the Chanyu's army was about fifty miles away. This army was currently marching north in a parallel direction to Li Fan, and was still maintaining its organization and vigilance.

Considering that Li Fan only saw three of the Ten Jiedu banners, it seems that the battle in the north is not yet completely over.

As more and more cultivators appeared within his Divine Sense range, and scouts appeared from all directions, Li Fan became increasingly certain of his judgment.

The Chanyu's army was converging from all directions and heading north. For a while, he even saw many Nascent Soul Realm shaman cultivators flying rapidly past the clouds. However, because there were too many of them, it wasn't impossible to fight them if they were at this distance. But if the Nine Banners of the Hu Barbarians were also nearby and could provide timely support, Li Fan would probably have a hard time escaping in his current state.

After much deliberation, Li Fan realized that with the Northern Expedition Army largely defeated and killed, he no longer had the opportunity to take advantage of the chaos of the battle to launch a surprise attack, assassinate the seventy-two shamans, and feast on a buffet.

Staying with these troops wouldn't give him a chance to make a move. In fact, there might be more and more experts in the north, and he might get discovered. If he encountered a Divine Lord, he wouldn't be able to withstand him. So Li Fan twirled his Sword Light in mid-air and turned to fly southwest.

First, find a place to Moon Worship, let the Gui Xu Nascent Soul eat its fill, and then solve the problem with the gourd.

Once the threat of the gourd is gone and the Northern Expedition is over, the Xiongnu army will eventually disband and go their separate ways. At that point, they can simply stay on the grasslands and hunt, and they'll still have opportunities for surprise attacks.

So Li Fan, holding the Si Nan, found a frozen lake in the icy wilderness.

Around the beginning of spring, this place would be a pasture for some tribe, but now that it's frozen over, there's naturally no one here.

Li Fan swept his Divine Sense across the lake, then smashed through the ice cover and dived to the bottom. He killed and devoured the Golden Core Realm fish demon hidden beneath the lake, replenishing his flesh and blood. After confirming that there were no other creatures around, he set up the Revered Heavenly Demon Array Moon Worship, in the center of the frozen lake.

Close your eyes, open your eyes

Li Fan then saw Yang Ying, standing atop Yinshan Mountain, with the heavens and earth above her head and an antelope under her feet, staring at him with eight eyes wide open.

"Holy crap! I was scared to death!"

Li Fan protested to the two incompetent system administrators.

The two boys, representing the Yang Fish, were holding up telescopes, gazing up at the eye of the storm in the sky.

"You chose this wallpaper yourself, okay...?"

"And your mood hasn't dropped at all..."

Tsk, these two, so unhappy about the tea room setting being changed...

"So that son of a bitch, Canglong, has been found?"

Yang Fish Tongzi shook his head, "Not yet, but it should no longer be in this plane. Anyway, the bounty has already been issued, and we will be notified if any space probe detects the signal of the flying disc."

"... Damn! That bell was so dangerous! If that old dog hadn't snatched it away so quickly, I was going to use the frisbee to distract him from his own!"

"Relax, relax, you're as lively as ever," Yin Fish Tong Zi said, taking a book from his sleeve and handing it over. "Here, the Emei talisman method, the Emei learning handwriting uploaded by the previous comrade."

Why didn't you bring this out sooner!

Li Fan opened the book and frowned. The notes looked like scribbles, the handwriting was like chicken claws, it was an eyesore...

"The Outer Sect Disciple of Emei are all of superior aptitude and innate talent, so they are generally divided into four academies—east, south, west, and north—based on their place of origin, and also into three categories—heaven, earth, and man—based on their performance in the sect's five arts examinations."

Yin Fish Tongzi picked his nose and pointed to 'Yang Ying' above. "That guy is a genius from the Western Upper Academy, while our comrade is just a talent from the Southern Lower Academy. His specialty isn't cultivation; it's already quite good that he can refine the Qiankun Yi Golden Core. Don't be too critical of his calligraphy. Turn to the next page."

Li Fan flipped through the pages for a while and saw a page of scribbles and notes that were glowing. It was clear that the system had reorganized and reorganized it. Although the scribbles were missing many strokes, the core incantation was exactly the same as the one that Canglong Laogou had pasted on the gourd!

"The Purification Mantra...?"

The so-called talisman is similar to a spell scroll. It is a Daoist incantation that is made and stored in advance, so that it can be used directly when needed, avoiding mistakes in a hurry in an emergency.

Although Emei has its own secret incantation system, Li Fan immediately recognized the type of this talisman, and frowned, stroking his chin in thought.

The Purification of Heaven and Earth Incantation is a very common exorcism and warding-off evil incantation. In fact, it is too common. Its principle is to use talismans to consume all the surrounding spiritual energy, turning it into pure light and heat. In this way, all the Taiji Nine Qi are quickly turned into a hot wind and consumed. Naturally, no evil magic or sorcery will have the environment to grow and take effect.

Lou Guan's Discipline Institute deals with crises involving Non-Thing demons and gods, it also uses the Jade Pure Bottle and purification talismans to dissipate the evil energy. Although evil energy is rare, there are ancient methods to deal with evil corpses, and the Purification Heaven and Earth Spell for purifying evil energy is not some cutting-edge technology.

Of course, when Mo Shan disciples encounter evil energy, they usually inhale it in large gulps, so there's no need to waste talismans.

The gourd's mouth is sealed with only one Purifying Heaven and Earth Mantra. Could it be to prevent the leakage of evil energy? But there's a Divine Transformation inside! One is enough? That Immortal Lord's talisman is far too powerful, isn't it? Or is this gourd particularly amazing? But it doesn't seem to be a high-grade magic weapon...

"Look at this again," Yin Fish Tongzi waved his hand, conjuring up an image of a talisman on a gourd. He then removed the central part, the "Purifying Heaven and Earth Incantation," leaving only the outer ring of runes, resembling a six-petaled plum blossom. Yin Fish Tongzi emphasized this image. "This is..."

"The Six Gates Formation of Life, Death, Illusion, Obscurity, and Light! It's a simplified version of the Yin-Yang Dust Formation!"

Li Fan's eyes lit up as he recalled the time in the South China Sea when he saw Han the Divine Lord leading Emei masters in setting up an array. At that time, he was forced by the Profound Heaven Sword Intent to calculate the directions, and the tips he received back then immediately came back to his mind!

"Uh..." Yin Fish Tongzi scratched his face, "Actually, what I wanted to say was that this diagram looks quite similar to the floor plan of the training grounds for the Outer Sect Disciple of Emei. So it's an array. No wonder that guy always gets lost at the mountain gate and asks us for directions..."

"This is the Emei Mountain Guardian Formation. It's not so much similar as it is identical. This was originally a formation used to trap people, so it seems the gourd contains a corresponding sealing formation..."

Li Fan paced back and forth, calculating with his fingers for a while, and then observed 'Yang Ying' and 'Antelope' closely. You know what, the system's scenes were more realistic than illusions; every detail of the Dao body was exactly the same as in his memory...

' Li Fan has mastered the Antelope Body Technique. Does this consume 200 points of maximum mood...?'

Kindness?

Li Fan looked at the antelope, then at Yang Ying, and suddenly understood.

"Two... there were two 'Non-Thing'! No! Now there's only one! But there were two before! So that's how it is! That thing really wasn't 'Yang Nanying'! It was 'Yang Ying'!"

The two boys turned to look at him for no apparent reason.

Li Fan explained, "Actually, there's something I've always been confused about. In the first stage, 'Antelope' didn't reveal any Qiankun Sha Qi, but in the second stage, 'Yang Ying', the vortex above appeared."

Therefore, I thought the storm was just Yang Ying's special skill, which is why she targeted the core of the physical body. But if the white baleful aura was the core, why didn't the 'true form' appear when the first-stage 'antelope' was cut open?

I just suddenly realized! The sheep was Yang Nanying in disguise! But Yang Ying wasn't her!

I thought it was two stages of something Non-Thing, but actually there aren't two stages! It's just two Non-Thing! Yang Nanying is just another 'gourd' prepared by Canglong!"

Li Fan became more and more excited as he spoke.

"That's it! Yang Nanying isn't the first experimental subject of the Azure Dragon Old Dog! This 'Non-Thing Yang Ying' must have been kept inside the shell of an experimental subject like Yang Nanying, absorbing her memories and knowledge. In turn, just like the flesh of the Shatentacle, it provides Yang Nanying with malevolent energy and magical power!"

But when Yang Nanying lost control of Moon Worship and was killed by us, the 'human flesh gourd' broke! The 'Yang Ying' sealed inside naturally escaped! No! Actually, it didn't completely escape! Only a little bit escaped!"

Li Fan's eyes lit up.

"So that's how it is! 'Non-Thing' can control evil energy, but conversely, evil energy can also be manipulated to control 'Non-Thing'!"

Look! It's not that 'Yang Ying' was holding back; clearly, her true form still had so many people hovering in the sky, yet she didn't use her full strength to fight me. It's just that she couldn't do it!

Because it wasn't that it wanted to spin around like a whirlpool! It was the evil energy spinning around that was engulfing it, making it spin like a tornado! So it could only break free little by little! That's why a single purification spell was enough to seal the gourd's mouth! Do you understand now?

Yin Fish Tong Zi spread his hands, indicating he didn't understand. "What do you mean, 'spinning around'?"

Yang Fish Tongzi explained, "What he meant was that this 'Non-Thing' and the evil energy formed a vortex model similar to a tropical cyclone. Inside the vortex, there is a dense area of vorticity called the vortex core. Its motion is similar to the rotation of a rigid body. Outside of it, the circumferential velocity of the fluid is inversely proportional to the radius; inside it, it is directly proportional to the radius. At the vortex core, the circumferential velocity is zero."

Therefore, the core of the gaseous 'Non-Thing' is probably located in the vortex core region, where it is bound to the evil energy by the Azure Dragon's magic. Only a small portion can escape through the vortex core to form the shape of 'Yang Ying'.

Li Fan: "... Yes, that's exactly what I meant!"

Yin Fish Tongzi squinted at him sideways.

Li Fan pretended not to notice, "So the more evil energy I absorb and use in battle, the more shackles I break, and the more of the 'Non-Thing Yang Ying' body can break free and escape!"

Therefore, I unleashed my full power of Tai Su Transformation and smashed it to pieces, but the opponent only grew stronger with each attack! However, when I switched to Taiyin Haoguang Sword Technique, I was able to destroy it instead!

After Li Fan finished speaking, he suddenly realized what he had done and cursed, "Damn it! That's not right! So getting this gourd would be completely useless! If I absorb all the evil energy, wouldn't I just release that 'Non-Thing'? What a huge loss!"

Yang Fish Tongzi thought for a moment, then his fingers flew across the keyboard as he casually created a model and drew a few circles. "Now that so many models have been collected, based on the current data, the system can analyze and calculate the core of the 'Non-Thing' and its approximate location at the vortex core. You can try staring at these areas for a bit."

Li Fan frowned, "Wait a minute, if we release this thing, how will we take it back...?"

Yin Fish Tong Zi shrugged, "Why release it? Just stare at the gourd's mouth a few times. We can always make a few more talismans to keep on hand."

Yang Fish Tongzi thought for a moment and nodded, shrinking the vortex model to the size of a gourd.

"... Is this really okay?"

So Li Fan regained consciousness and returned to the Taiji Realm. He took the gourd off his back, tentatively peeled off the talisman, and glared inside.

The storm of Qiankun Sha Qi within was still swirling, like the arms of a galaxy. Only a tiny bit of malevolent energy was leaking out; at least the worst-case scenario of Non-Thing escaping once the seal was broken hadn't occurred.

Then... I glared.

"Ahhhhhhh--!" A scream came from the gourd.

"Holy crap!" Li Fan quickly dodged and saw a large stream of ink-like liquid evil energy gushing out of the gourd's mouth. The gourd, like a drunkard who had been stabbed and was spitting blood, jumped high and struggled desperately.

'It looks like things are going pretty smoothly.'

Keep up the good work and have faith in science.

What kind of crazy science is this?!

So Li Fan leaned over, pressed the gourd down, and craned his neck to look at the gourd's opening.

The gourd screamed "Ahhh! Ahhh!! Ahhh!" and struggled in Li Fan's arms, spitting out thick, black liquid evil energy.

Believe it or not, Li Fan actually learned a new trick: he focused his gaze as if it were a steel needle or short sword, concentrated the red light emitted from his pupils, and used the Qi system's calculations to pierce those few points.

With each stab, the gourd screamed "Ah!" and gushed out a large amount of liquid evil. The rotation of the vortex inside also clearly began to slow down. Soon the gourd began to become heavier and heavier, and the sound of liquid sloshing inside could be heard.

Li Fan's eyes also ached from staring so hard. Although the screams quickly subsided, he continued to attack as a precaution, straining his Crimson Eyes and exhausting his Divine Sense until all three flowers withered before finally stopping.

The gourd is now filled with liquid, not gas.

The thick black and white liquids were stirred together in thin, even strands, without mixing, looking somewhat like freshly poured milk chocolate...

Try a bite.

Li Fan picked up the gourd, took a swig, swallowed it, and then suddenly felt a chill.

Li Fan's mood dropped a little.

'What does it taste like? It's awful!'

Hmm, it tastes a bit like drinking lead, and a bit like cough syrup...

Li Fan's mood improved slightly.

Li Fan's mood improved slightly.

Li Fan's mood improved slightly.

Suddenly, Li Fan's mood surged dramatically! This wasn't surprising to Li Fan; it was clearly the effect of absorbing a high concentration of malevolent energy and reaching the Gui Xu Nascent Soul!

However, Li Fan clearly realized that there were still some things he couldn't process!

Li Fan examined his internal organs and discovered that the thick liquid, after entering his stomach, seemed to sink to the bottom while simultaneously swirling up like a whirlwind, constantly emitting a malevolent aura that disrupted his Inner Landscape, as if an electric fan was swirling inside his stomach!

"Holy crap, am I poisoned?! The White Bone Fan!"

'The host is not poisoned, only experiencing slight stomach bloating.'

'Indigestion, or rather, inability to digest'

Damn it!

Li Fan dared not continue pouring the contents into the gourd, so he quickly sealed it with a talisman and then sat cross-legged to regulate his breathing.

But the abdominal pain is getting worse!

"Damn it! System! Refresh my Three Flowers skill!"

'Three Flowers Gather at the Top resets, consuming 3600 points of mood cap; current mood is 5k/10.1k'

Li Fan roared, his forehead covered in cold sweat.

At the same time, he tried his best to recall the Emei Qiankun Secret Technique to force the vortex of energy erupting in his stomach out of his body!

"Life and death, illusion and obscurity, light and darkness! Heaven and earth, boundless and limitless, return to their root! Heaven and earth are formed from themselves! I am heaven and earth! Ah ah ah!"

Then Li Fan vomited.

From its throat, it spat out a tiger that was entirely white with wings on its back.

Qiongqi looked completely bewildered and turned to look at Li Fan.

Li Fan was also completely bewildered, and looked inward to examine the Divine Court.

Okay, Qiongqi really was vomited out. What made up its physical form was a white substance that Li Fan couldn't digest, white 'evil energy'.

Moreover, unlike the Qiongqi Dao Body Li Fan himself transformed into, this white Qiongqi was truly only white, without any fur or patterns on its body, as if it were sculpted from a block of white wax. Only its tiger eyes were pitch black, as if there was coal underneath the wax block.

Li Fan stretched out his hand, wanting to summon Qiongqi to take a closer look.

But he burped.

Then, a gust of black wind swirled from his throat, transforming into a giant hand that grabbed Qiongqi like a kitten and pulled it in front of Li Fan, leaving only a bewildered tiger's head peeking out from between its fingers.

Well, it seems he's mastered two new skills.