Blood Demon Secret Technique

Zhou Yang knew very little about the legendary Demonic Cultivators. He only knew that the cultivation methods of Demonic Cultivators were vastly different from those of orthodox immortal cultivators, and that their cultivation process was said to be accompanied by immense pain, making them prone to qi deviation.

The Cultivation World seemed to be extremely wary of Demonic Cultivators, and information was heavily suppressed. Zhou Yang only knew that wherever the traces of Demonic Cultivators were discovered, high-level cultivators would immediately be dispatched to eliminate them and uphold righteousness.

In a personal account from a Foundation Establishment Cultivator who had participated in a battle against demonic cultivators, Zhou Yang vaguely learned that Demonic Cultivators were divided into several branches based on their cultivation techniques. Those skilled in refining and controlling corpses were called Corpse Demons, those skilled in refining souls and driving ghosts were called Ghost Demons, and then there was the Blood Demon lineage, which he had learned about from the black jade slip this time.

The black jade slip did not contain any cultivation methods for the Blood Demon lineage. It only recorded three secret techniques of the Blood Demon lineage: "Blood Arrow Technique," "Blood Boil Technique," and "Blood Escape Technique."

"Blood Arrow Technique" had the lowest cultivation requirement, and Qi Refining Stage cultivators could practice and use it. However, without the support of a Blood Demon lineage cultivation method, the power of this secret technique when wielded by a cultivator was much weaker than when used by a Blood Demon cultivator.

"Blood Boil Technique" and "Blood Escape Technique" had higher cultivation requirements. Cultivators who wished to use these two secret techniques must have a Foundation Establishment Stage cultivation level.

Among them, "Blood Boil Technique" was a desperate secret technique that burned the cultivator's own vital blood to temporarily enhance their Mana, increasing it by several times at most.

As for "Blood Escape Technique," it was a secret technique for escaping danger. It also used vital blood to be activated. Once used, this technique could allow one to escape at least a hundred miles. When used by a Late Foundation Establishment Cultivator, it was not too difficult to escape from a Purple Mansion Stage Cultivator.

After studying these three demonic secret techniques, Zhou Yang could only sigh that demonic cultivation was indeed demonic. It was not only cruel and vicious towards others but also towards oneself.

The vital blood of a cultivator was not just ordinary blood; it contained the essence of the cultivator's spirit, energy, and essence.

The vital blood of a Qi Refining Stage cultivator, even when accumulated, could not fill a small wine cup. Losing even a drop would make one weak for several days.

If vital blood was excessively depleted, a cultivator would not only regress in cultivation but also have their lifespan reduced. If it was not replenished in time, their future cultivation path would essentially be ruined.

Therefore, cultivators would generally not expend vital blood to perform desperate techniques classified as "forbidden techniques" unless they were facing a life-or-death crisis.

However, Zhou Yang knew from the jade slip he obtained that most of the techniques of the Blood Demon lineage of demonic cultivation were related to vital blood, and the more vital blood consumed during the casting of a technique, the greater its power.

Taking "Blood Arrow Technique" as an example, according to the information Zhou Yang saw on the jade slip, if a Qi Refining Layer Nine demonic cultivator who had practiced the Blood Demon lineage cultivation method was willing to sacrifice all their vital blood to cast this secret technique, the power of the blood arrow would be even greater than that of an ordinary Tier 3 Low-grade artifact. A careless early Foundation Establishment Cultivator could very well fall victim to this attack.

It was astonishing for a Qi Refining Stage cultivator to kill a Foundation Establishment Stage cultivator through a higher realm, even at the cost of their life.

From the time Zhou Yang began his cultivation journey until now, his knowledge and experience indicated that unless one possessed a treasure bestowed by a high-level cultivator, or the enemy was already severely injured and their cultivation greatly reduced, it was impossible for a Qi Refining Stage cultivator to kill a Foundation Establishment Stage cultivator of a higher realm, or for a Foundation Establishment Stage cultivator to kill a Purple Mansion Stage cultivator of a higher realm. Even cultivators rumored to possess spiritual bodies could not achieve this.

Zhou Yang, as a cultivator at Qi Refining Layer Nine, was acutely aware of the vast difference between the Qi Refining Stage and the Foundation Establishment Stage.

To take Mana as a simple example, even disregarding the difference in Mana quality, just considering the quantity, the Mana of a newly established First Layer Foundation Establishment Cultivator was at least more than five times that of a Qi Refining Layer Nine cultivator!

With such a huge disparity, how could a Qi Refining Stage cultivator achieve a counter-kill across realms?

"No wonder the higher echelons of the Cultivation World are suppressing information about Demonic Cultivators. If those Rogue Cultivators, especially the Sand Bandits, knew that demonic secret techniques could allow them to kill enemies across realms, why wouldn't they cultivate them!"

"And once one cultivates demonic cultivation methods and secret techniques, how could they not want to refine demonic artifacts and pills?"

"But are demonic artifacts and pills that easy to refine? They often involve the blood sacrifice of tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of mortals for refining artifacts and pills, and the vital blood and souls of cultivators for refining pills. If such demonic cultivators become numerous in the Cultivation World, what would the current Cultivation World be like?"

Zhou Yang understood the key point and felt a chill run down his spine. He almost immediately wanted to destroy the jade slip in his hand, to make this harmful item disappear from the world forever.

However, he ultimately stopped himself.

The reason he stopped was simple. Just like when he set up traps to ambush others, the means were irrelevant, whether insidious or righteous, as long as they did not violate his own inner bottom line and principles, he could use them.

As long as he only used the three secret techniques recorded in the jade slip and did not cultivate demonic cultivation methods, he would not have to worry about being influenced and harming others.

After all, it wasn't just demonic cultivators who could refine spirit pills to restore vital blood and energy. Among the spirit pills refined by cultivators, there were also some specifically used to restore vital blood and energy.

Of course, Zhou Yang had to admit that he was tempted by the effect of the "Blood Escape Technique."

Although this secret technique had great side effects after use, its effect was excellent. If he managed to reach Foundation Establishment and learned this secret technique, he could venture out into the world.

For the next half a month, Zhou Yang stayed quietly in the basement, reading books. He had brought enough Grain Abstinence Pills with him, so he wasn't afraid of starving even if he stayed for half a year.

After more than half a month, Zhou Yang estimated that the Sand Bandits should have calmed down and withdrawn. He then quietly emerged to scout the situation.

Of course, for safety reasons, he still used a "Water Evasion Technique" talisman and traveled by water this time.

The White Sand River flowed through the entire White Sand River Oasis from south to north. As long as the Sand Bandits had not left the oasis, Zhou Yang could follow the river and would eventually discover the Sand Bandits' movements.

However, until he followed the river to Golden Water Lake at the northernmost part of the oasis, he did not find any trace of Sand Bandits or even any cultivators along the way. This finally convinced him that the Sand Bandits had indeed left.

The departure of the Sand Bandits was, of course, good news. After confirming this, Zhou Yang immediately rushed towards Golden Mist Mountain.

Before fleeing the market, he had discussed with his godmother Zhou Xuanyu and others that if they were lucky enough to escape and confirmed the Sand Bandits had left the oasis, they could return to Golden Gorge Mountain to regroup.

At that time, everyone had basically confirmed one point: since the Sand Bandits only dared to attack the oasis after Old Ancestor Chen left, they certainly wouldn't dare to occupy the spirit veins in the oasis and stay permanently.

Therefore, as long as it was confirmed that the Sand Bandits had left the oasis, Golden Glow Mountain, being the primary target of the Sand Bandits' attack, was actually the most suitable reunion location.

However, when he arrived outside Golden Cloud Mountain after rushing there, the scene that greeted his eyes made his expression change drastically.

The Golden Mist Mountain, which was originally several hundred meters high and rich in spiritual qi, had now become a dead land devoid of any spiritual qi.

Not only had the spirit veins on the mountain completely dissipated, but the entire mountain peak had also collapsed and lowered by tens of meters. The original buildings, flowers, and trees on the mountain were all gone, leaving only traces of being burned by fire on the ground.

"Madness, utter madness!"

Zhou Yang looked at the scene with an ashen face, completely enraged by the condition of Golden Cloud Mountain.

The importance of spirit veins to cultivators was undeniable. Generally speaking, even in battles between cultivators, including sect wars, spirit veins of the enemy would not be destroyed; at most, they would be occupied.

After all, one more spirit vein could support many more cultivators on one's own side. No sect or family would ever think they had too many spirit veins.

Even in the past, when the Sand Bandits attacked and breached small oases, they would not destroy the spirit veins in the oases.

This was because the Sand Bandits knew that without spirit veins to support other cultivators, they would have no targets for plunder. Moreover, by leaving the spirit veins there, they could attract other cultivators to be plundered.

But now, the Sand Bandits who invaded the White Sand River Oasis had broken this taboo!

Zhou Yang could already imagine the expression on Old Ancestor Chen's face when he returned to find Golden Glow Mountain burned to a barren wasteland by the underground fire!

The importance of Golden Cloud Mountain to the Chen family was self-evident. The family's largest source of income came from the market here, a market that had poured so much of the Chen family's effort into. It had taken over ten generations and hundreds of years of management for the "Golden Sand Market" to achieve its current prosperity and reputation.

Now, it was all gone!

"The sky over the White Sand River Oasis is about to change!"

Zhou Yang looked up at the clear blue sky, as if he could already see a storm brewing.

With Golden Mist Mountain burned to the ground, the storage bags Zhou Yang and the others had buried could no longer be retrieved, which caused him considerable heartache.

After all, those storage bags contained spiritual items and resources worth thousands of Spirit Stones.

While he felt the pain, there was nothing he could do now that things had come to this. He could only hold this grudge in his heart and seek retribution from those Sand Bandits if he ever had the chance.

For the next few days, Zhou Yang roamed the vicinity of Golden Dawn Mountain, hoping to find any Zhou family members who had come to reunite.

In fact, he wasn't the only one searching the area for family. The other survivors from the market who had also broken out were all converging on Golden Cloud Mountain as a post-battle meeting point, and they too were wandering nearby, looking for their own family members.

After meeting with some of them and exchanging intelligence on the Sand Bandits they had gathered, he discovered that many, like himself, seemed to have sensed something from the Sand Bandits' series of unusual actions. They were all reticent, unwilling to discuss the matter further.

After four to five days of searching, Zhou Yang had found three Zhou family members: Zhou Yuanchun, Zhou Yuanzhen, and Zhou Xiong.

In his conversations with them, he learned that after they had scattered and fled that day, these three, due to their lower cultivation levels, had not been specifically targeted by the Sand Bandits. After escaping Golden Mist Mountain, they had hidden in a desolate wilderness, just like him, and only dared to venture out recently.

However, besides these three, his most worried-about godmother, Zhou Xuanyu, had yet to send any news. Even her husband, Wu Tao, was completely out of contact.

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