Palm Technique

Zheng Zetian is exhausted.

He had been repeatedly speeding through the carnage all day, and his muscles were sore and aching from the electrical shocks. He had broken a leg during the day and then got punched again at night. He hadn't paid attention when his adrenaline was surging, but now that he had calmed down, he felt like he couldn't even straighten his back. He estimated that he had broken at least one or two ribs. Now he really couldn't take it anymore and just wanted to go back to his dorm and fall asleep.

By the time the Tu Lou leisurely circled the lake back and took him back to his dormitory, it was almost dawn.

Meanwhile, the Yuzan was blocking the dormitory entrance. Well, she had actually woken up from a nap and was sitting by the cave entrance, hugging her knees. Apart from her hair being a little messy, she looked perfectly fine.

Sigh, you could just throw it up on the mountain, why leave it by the door?

Zheng Zetian glanced at the sheep beside him with displeasure... tsk, this stupid sheep patted its butt, hopped over the fence, jumped off the cliff, and went to graze. It's fast, though.

"Ah, I, my master, you..."

Upon seeing Zheng Zetian return, Yuzan quickly stood up, but seeing him covered in blood and mud, she dared not ask any questions and stood there for a moment, not daring to approach.

Zheng Zetian laid his cards on the table.

"Your master, the True Person Yin Qinglan, invited me to help her achieve liberation, and now she has been reincarnated. If you wish to seek revenge, do it another day."

Zheng Zetian noticed that the Yuzan was staring at his head. Realizing what was happening, he pulled the silver hairpin off his head and put it in his pocket.

"Oh, these things are my reward for helping her dismember the body and working so hard all night. I can't return them to you, please make way."

"Then what should I do?!"

Yuzan stared blankly at the young man who passed by. Only after he entered the cave did she cry out, grabbing Zheng Zetian's sleeve, looking at him with a pitiful and helpless expression.

"My master has been reincarnated! What should I do now? What should I do?!"

Zheng Zetian turned to look at her, paused for a moment, and then said...

"If you're really not interested in spiritual practice, then find a way to survive. As a master, I think everyone wants their disciples to survive."

"As long as you keep living, and live long enough, maybe one day you'll encounter something interesting."

So he pulled his hand away from the Yuzan and closed the door.

Zheng Zetian stood at the door for a while, then shook his head. Turning back, he saw the candlestick in the living room, which had been replaced with new candles sometime earlier. He sighed, then forced himself to stay awake and lit the lamp.

The shadow stepped down from the wall, gazing with interest at the doorway.

"What, fellow cultivator, do you not wish to cultivate with her?"

Zheng Zetian ignored him, took off his robe, and began bandaging and changing the dressing himself.

"She's too unlucky; she probably won't live more than three days if she stays by my side."

"Heh, as expected of Ancestor Luo, he passes through the tribulations of love, killing, and death with ease."

Li Fan gave him a thumbs-up.

Zheng Zetian pursed his lips, not wanting to waste time chatting with the other person, so he went straight to the point.

"You saw what happened today, no, yesterday, right, Master? The company now knows that your true body is no longer in the mountains. And that Senior Brother is in the South China Sea. I think they will make their move soon, infiltrating the secret realms of Ink Bamboo Mountain or Tianyu Mountain to steal."

Even though it was just a shadow, Li Fan crossed his arms and struck a curious pose.

"Oh? What makes you say that, fellow Daoist?"

Zheng Zetian took out the silver hairpin and separated the head from the body.

"When I came across the lake just now, I could clearly feel the inner wall of the hairpin on my head vibrating, sometimes strong, sometimes weak, sometimes absent. It seems that the closer I got to places with strong Dao Breath energy, such as array barriers and spiritual caves, the louder the sound and vibration became. It was very sensitive."

I just tried circling the lake, and I can roughly guess that this thing is probably used to detect the Mountain Protecting Array you set up at the bottom of the lake. Although I don't understand companies or otherworldly artifacts, I do know how to infiltrate someone else's sect's forbidden area to steal their skills.

The company has planted so many spies at the foot of the mountain, which clearly means there's something they want to get their hands on on the mountain, and they've been eyeing it for a long time.

However, on this Tianyu Mountain. Even a demon god transformed into a demon could not withstand a single sword strike. There were also a large number of cultivators and Armored Soldier of the Sixth and Eighth Divisions stationed on the mountain. Even if the company gathered its demon sons, it probably could not break through the mountain head-on.

The phone on the hairpin would be interfered with by the magic array, which would probably make it inconvenient for people outside to contact the temporary spies in the mountains and direct them. Therefore, they would have to send key figures to infiltrate the mountains in person to carry out the operation.

Therefore, I speculate that the company probably bribed those international students and some Outer Sect Disciple of Ink Bamboo Mountain to work as temporary workers. When they went up and down the mountain, they secretly memorized the layout of the formation on the lake. In this way, they could deduce where the formation was weak and where there were unobstructed paths, and thus find a way to sneak into the mountain formation without triggering the restrictive formation.

Yin Qinglan has been colluding with the company for several years, and she's definitely not the only temporary worker in the mountains. I reckon the company has long since figured out how to bypass the mountain protection formation.

Now that we've confirmed you're not in the mountains, as long as we create some more trouble, distract Senior Brother, send that Sword Master away, and divert the Armored Soldiers of the Six Divisions of Yushan, then we can move around in the mountains.

Moreover, they might make their move soon. After all, one of their agents died during the day yesterday, and another temporary worker was lost last night. They might alert them and then go all out."

Li Fan remained silent for a while.

"Fellow Daoist, you are so skilled!"

Zheng Zetian shrugged, offering no explanation, since he was quite adept at this kind of thing.

Li Fan turned around with his hands behind his back and asked, "Fellow Daoist, what do you think they're trying to steal after all their scheming?"

Zheng Zetian applied the ointment to his bruised and swollen ribs.

"I have no idea. You have so many strange things there, who knows? But if you ask me, they might be after your sword manual this time, since they quoted a million taels per move."

"... Ah, the Sword Manual... I see..."

Li Fan pondered for a long time, then chuckled softly.

"Well done, fellow Daoist, you have done a great service again. What reward would you like this time?"

Zheng Zetian shook his head. "I'll be back in time in a few days. What reward do you need? Just remember it. Besides, since you already know about their mastermind, if you capture the Demon Child alive, please leave one alive so I can question him too."

Li Fan laughed heartily.

"Fellow Daoist, rest assured, I am a very kind person, I will definitely not let them die. Wait for my good news."

So Zheng Zetian blew out the lamp and went to sleep.

I didn't sleep well that night; I kept having dreams.

These dreams are, of course, a cultivation story of a young lady from the Xuan Yue Yu Xu Palace on Mount Xie Luo, woven together from information gained by digesting fragments of her primordial spirit.

As a fourth-generation immortal of the Xieluo Mountain and the eldest daughter of the powerful Yin family, with at least three or four Divine Transformation Realm elders protecting her, Yin Qinglan's life is incredibly simple.

She was truly the kind of princess who could have her wishes fulfilled and do whatever she wanted. A single cough from her would summon hundreds of fellow disciples to fawn over her. From a young age, she had never lacked cultivation resources, Cultivation Method and Fourth Department treasures, guidance from renowned teachers, or opportunities to travel and gather immortal fortune. From the very beginning of her cultivation, someone had paved the way for her, arranging everything from tribulations and adventures to slaying demons and monsters. If nothing unexpected happened, she would at least be able to cultivate to the position of a Divine Lord and inherit the prestigious position of Palace Master.

Interestingly, after carefully reviewing Qinglan Fairy's early experiences, Zheng Zetian discovered that she was actually quite respectable before, at least a classical lady from a scholarly family, and not the type to go around inviting people to form couples for dual cultivation.

Back in the Xuanmen sect, Yin Qinglan acted quite like a righteous guardian of morality. At least, despite being born into a prestigious family, she didn't bully the weak, act perversely, or bully her classmates. To be honest, such a favored child of heaven didn't need to 'compete'. In fact, she often went down the mountain to slay demons and save people from suffering. Whether it was to satisfy her vanity, her saintly heart, or a true chivalrous spirit, objectively speaking, she was indeed helping people in distress and truly deserved the title of 'Qinglan'.

After all, although the Three Great Sects inevitably became entrenched in power and practiced nepotism in their later stages, the Nine Great Xuan Sects were still different from the Immortal Palace. The Cultivation Family of the Xuanmen were essentially pursuing cultivation and the Dao. Yin Qinglan certainly had the support of her family, but her extraordinary talent, diligence, and firm Dao heart were also indispensable factors.

In order to ensure that the Yin family could maintain a place in Xieluo Mountain and protect future generations in their cultivation and the reincarnation of their ancestors, the Yin family's divine lords and Real Persons naturally poured their hopes and resources into the most talented among the direct descendants of the eldest branch. As a result, Yin Qinglan was able to cultivate smoothly to the True Person realm and become a renowned female immortal of the Xuanmen, attracting attention wherever she went and becoming a righteous immortal admired by all.

Yin Qinglan accepted the arrangement early on and was designated as the family's heir. The family fully supported her to inherit the family's power when she reached the Transformation Stage, so that she could better protect her family in Xieluo Mountain. Therefore, until she reached the True Person stage, Yin Qinglan was indeed a diligent, hardworking, and studious Daoist disciple in the true sense of the word.

After she reaches the Divine Transformation, she will naturally consider her family's needs and focus more on social interactions to gain support from fellow Daoists Dao Companion. Therefore, even though she has been admired and pursued by so many fellow disciples since childhood, she maintains appropriate distance to avoid letting romantic tribulations hinder her cultivation. However, she must also obey her family's arrangements and interact with Daoists from various sects, which is indeed a matter of course and unavoidable.

However, starting about twenty years ago, the image of this aloof, icy fairy underwent a dramatic change.

Yes, it was the Battle of Taiyi Mountain of the Xuan Sect God Sect.

As the leading figure of the younger generation of Xieluo Mountain, Qinglan naturally led her fellow disciples to Duizhou to support the Taiyi Mountain Taiyuan Zongzhenzong in resisting the invasion of the Blood Record Devil Sect.

Unfortunately, once you're on the battlefield, you can forget about your persona, background, or family history. The battlefield is the fairest place; even the slightest mistake means death. No one shows mercy, and no one cares about your background.

The Xuanmen sect lost this battle, suffering a crushing defeat.

Qinglan was captured by the demonic sect masters. Of course, she had a large amount of memory loss, and it seemed that her Dao heart had collapsed. But in the end, with the desperate help of her fellow disciples, she managed to escape with her life, but her Dao heart was completely damaged, her Dao foundation was severely destroyed, she was seriously injured, and she was on the verge of collapse.

Although the Yin family of Xieluo Mountain sent her to Ink Bamboo Mountain for refuge and healing, in a sense, they also completely abandoned her.

After all, Cultivation Family are cold-blooded and rational. They pinned their hopes on your potential and naturally supported you with all their might, but now that you've lost your value and become a useless person, why would the family support an idle person? Besides, to be honest, there are still so many Divine Transformation ancestors to support. Even if you're a Nascent Soul Realm stage, since you can't overcome this tribulation, the family won't waste any more resources on you.

So, after arriving at Ink Bamboo Mountain, Qinglan Fairy lost almost everything she once possessed. Her personality changed drastically. Later, she experienced some things, perhaps she came to terms with them, perhaps because of a lack of money, perhaps because she didn't want to die, or perhaps she was framed by the company. In any case, the former fairy gradually let go, no longer cultivating her divine skills. She not only came into contact with the so-called Yuling Great Law, but also studied all sorts of unorthodox and unorthodox methods. In the end, she became a temporary worker for the company. As long as she could make money, she would take on any task and do any job. Naturally, she sank deeper and deeper into depravity...

Zheng Zetian slept for a while, and after reading through a bunch of broken seals and incomplete primordial spirit memories of Qinglan, he gained a lot of knowledge. Unfortunately, the fairy unlocked too many fancy moves later on, and almost taught Zheng Zetian Yuling Great Law. Now that Zheng Zetian was in his youthful body, he really couldn't sleep anymore, so he quickly got up to drink some water and calm down.

Well, it's quite pitiful that Qinglan, a pure lotus flower, fell into the mud. Perhaps this is what they mean by "even the most hateful person has a pitiable side." However, there are many people in this world who are even more miserable than her, so a sigh is enough, and there's no need to care too much.

After all, according to Zheng Zetian's own recollection, back then, there were quite a few people who suffered similar fates on those famous "Mysterious Fairy" lists compiled by busybodies, such as the Ten Palace Masters, the Seven Fairies, the List of Beauties, and the Hundred Flowers List.

After all, the bigger the tree, the more the wind will blow. You're beautiful, rich, and your name is known throughout the world, like a fairy descended from heaven. This arouses others' desire to conquer you, which will definitely attract all sorts of scoundrels to "see" you, "form a partnership," and "have a sparring match." Not everyone in this world is as gentle as that "senior brother from the same sect," who can be easily deterred with a few words. If you happen to run into him, it could be a death sentence that wipes out your entire family and destroys your property.

After all, there are countless ruthless villains in this world who abuse their power and do whatever they want without any moral compass. Do you think all the old monsters in this world are as reasonable as that great master, who would tell you which precept you broke and make you change after beheading you?

It's really unexpected, isn't it? The Divine Cult has become so powerful now. I vaguely remember those people back then, like stray dogs, being wiped out by the Xuanmen, dying and being relentlessly attacked. I never imagined they would become so prosperous now, even able to launch a counterattack against Kunlun. The times have truly changed...

Trying to stretch his muscles and bones, Zheng Zetian realized that although his injuries to his hands and feet had not fully healed, he had absorbed many fragments of Yin Qinglan's primordial spirit, and his spirit had almost recovered. However, he was feeling unbearably hot, so he went out to take a medicinal bath.

Luckily, the bathhouse wasn't crowded, so Zheng Zetian soaked in the tub to practice his cultivation. He had also discovered that the Dao body of Foundation Establishment stage cultivator was far too fragile, with too little Qi, and he couldn't utilize the secret techniques he knew. If he didn't temper his body a little more, he simply couldn't withstand any more strain.

The body-refining techniques of cultivators are different from those of warriors. Techniques like the Body Domination Technique, Gang Fist, and Ink Mountain Fist are all external martial arts, basically involving brute force to overcome all techniques. Such external body-refining techniques are suitable for those with great perseverance and unwavering determination, who can cultivate to the level of Martial God and become invincible, capable of Feather Transformation Immortal with a single punch.

However, Zheng Zetian couldn't master that. After all, everyone has their preferences and weaknesses. In his previous life, he only casually practiced some internal martial arts passed down from the Xuanmen sect, which was enough to block a couple of moves. Besides, that kind of external body-refining method was not suitable for his current rapidly evolving and mutated Dao body.

However, to be fair, the acceleration effect provided by the Flesh Scorpion System, along with the <Immovable Mount Tai Scripture>, are all suitable for martial arts combat techniques. With a little refinement, they can greatly enhance combat power, so it would be a waste to waste such innate talent.

So Zheng Zetian used the medicinal bath to repair his bones and muscles, and also practiced a set of Poison Sand Palm techniques.

This Poison Sand Palm isn't a particularly profound skill; to put it bluntly, it's just a martial arts technique. It involves wrapping poisonous iron sand hidden weapons with internal energy and concealing them in the palm. When struck with this palm, it inflicts a poisonous wound, and those hit will surely die. It's extremely vicious and deadly.

However, this skill is actually quite useless. It might be okay for beating ordinary people, but honestly, a slap to the face is just as effective; there's no need to go through the trouble of specializing in poison. And if used against cultivators, it's only effective against Foundation Establishment cultivators. After all, once you reach the Golden Core stage, your physical abilities increase dramatically, especially those who have cultivated a powerful physique or used protective qi to forge their entire bodies into something as hard as iron. If you strike their pectoral muscles, not only will they not even bounce, but the poison might even be reflected back into your own qi acupoints, causing a backlash and death—making you look like a fool...

However, later, two exceptionally wicked and despicable individuals emerged in the Central Plains. Their wickedness and insidious nature were appalling. They deliberately modified this rare Poison Sand Palm technique, not only using it themselves but also intentionally spreading it throughout the land to cover up their murderous and thieving activities. This resulted in numerous false accusations being leveled against their Luo Sect...

In short, when practicing this new Poison Sand Palm technique, there is no need to go through the trouble of hiding poison or applying medicine beforehand, or wearing gloves, as is common in the martial arts world. Instead, specific meridians and acupoints on the palm are reserved, and the poison is wrapped with profound internal energy, or special true energy is hidden in the acupoints.

When unleashing a palm strike, one can channel Qi through special meridians, drawing upon one's own internal energy to amplify the palm's power. With a single strike, the poisonous sand is injected into the opponent's internal organs and meridians, crippling their cultivation—an extremely insidious attack. Moreover, the stronger one's skill, the more ferocious the palm strike becomes. Eventually, this lowly skill of Poison Sand Palm was transformed by the two of them into a fearsome and infamous divine skill, feared by all.

Zheng Zetian only remembered this palm technique after seeing Yin Qinglan crippled by a single blow. Although the one used by the Divine Cult Protector was just a shoddy Poison Sand Palm and not the same technique he was practicing, analyzing the damage to Qinglan's body gave him new insights.

Actually, there's no need to specially prepare any poisonous true qi, nor is it necessary to have particularly strong skills to disperse the opponent's protective true qi; just use malevolent energy.

Yes, the Poisonous 'Demon' Palm.

Using a principle similar to the Poison Sand Palm, one can directly conceal malevolent energy in the palm and inject it into the body of an opponent who does not understand the Dao of Tai Su, thus causing sufficient damage. In this way, even if the opponent is Nascent Soul Stage cultivator, as long as one accelerates and strikes them with a palm, one can inflict severe injury.

He regulated his internal energy, channeled it through his meridians, and with a flick of his wrist, left a palm print on the edge of the bathtub. Zheng Zetian nodded in satisfaction.

Okay, it worked. Anyway, this move is someone else's, so I'm too lazy to come up with a new name. I'll just call it the Da Songyang Shensha Palm.