The Blood Jade Tree was crimson from top to bottom, thick liquid flowing through its branches and trunk.
The crimson leaves were densely covered with the [Insect-Leaf Body] label.
Fang Huai took one look and immediately felt as though his mind had been polluted.
Judging by the number of labels on the leaves, each one had gathered at least a thousand Blood Jade Insects.
He drew a deep breath. A few wisps of Killing Intent entered his body, and Fang Huai was astonished. The Killing Intent here was completely different from that in Poison Miasma Valley.
By rights, the Death Sha formed from corpses should have been grayish-white, impure, and mixed with resentment and poisonous curses.
Yet the Killing Intent here was pale red, and its quality was exceptionally pure.
After observing it carefully, Fang Huai understood why.
The Blood Jade Tree drew in and encircled the grayish-white Sha produced by corpses. The Blood Jade Insects that made up the tree absorbed and refined the impure Death Sha, then exhaled pale red Living Sha that had been purified.
When he tried circulating the Hundred Sha Technique, he felt as though he were getting twice the result with half the effort.
No wonder the Zheng Family could still provide Qi Refining disciples every year despite being so heavily exploited by the Corpse Sha Sect. It turned out this Blood Jade Tree was responsible.
Fang Huai looked at Zheng Fengzu, who was gazing at the Blood Jade Tree with undisguised sorrow in his eyes.
"We've been driven to this in the end. I have no choice but to destroy you. Before that, I'll let you have one last full meal."
He said gravely, "Feed those three to the Divine Tree!"
The Zheng Family members immediately came forward and dragged the three over to the Blood Jade Tree.
They raised its blood-red roots and plunged them into the trio's bodies.
Fortunately, the blood-red roots were also made up of Blood Jade Insects. Not long after they entered Fang Huai's body, the Little Corpse Meteor Insect suppressed them.
"Zheng Xianguang, Zheng Xianrui!"
"Present!"
"You two have both reached the peak of the third Qi Refining layer. Shed your Mortal Skin here and break through to the fourth layer.
"I'll give you three days. If you succeed, you'll be promoted to family guardians. If you fail, then you can blame your thin luck."
Based on past experience, Zheng Fengzu estimated the Corpse Sha Sect would forcibly recall these disciples in five days at most.
If the disciples did not respond, the sect would surely realize they were in danger and send high-level cultivators to investigate.
"Three days?" The two Zheng Family members turned pale with shock.
If they had outstanding aptitude and invited an expert from Skinning Peak of the Corpse Sha Sect to help them shed their skin, it might be possible to complete the whole process within three days.
But the two of them had only average aptitude, and the Zheng Family's skinning technique was crude. If they could not completely remove their Mortal Skin, the new skin would grow at an exceptionally slow rate.
Forget three days. Even if they were given a week, there was no way they could complete all three steps: shedding their skin, breaking through, and growing a Spirit Root.
If they were forced to stop halfway, they would suffer Qi Deviation and die on the spot.
Zheng Xianguang and Zheng Xianrui exchanged a glance. "Patriarch, we can't even get past the skinning stage. We know we don't have what it takes to break through in three days. We should wait until we reach the New Sect."
Zheng Fengzu shook his head. "No. The journey to the New Sect is long, and I'm the only mid-stage Qi Refining cultivator. I can't safely escort the family there alone, so I need your help after you break through.
"Focus on your breakthroughs. I'll protect you while you do. If you're really worried, we still have three Blood Bottles with decent cultivation."
Zheng Fengzu had his own plans.
The reason these two clansmen had not been forcibly recruited into the sect was that their aptitude was too poor to catch the sect's eye.
If they succeeded in breaking through to the fourth Qi Refining layer, the family would gain two more capable fighters. That would naturally be a good thing.
If they failed, he could toss them to the Blood Jade Tree and help the Divine Tree grow more leaves. Bringing it to the New Sect would be a merit in itself.
Fang Huai felt his heart tighten under Zheng Fengzu's gaze and spoke up. "Patriarch Zheng, I'm a disciple of Skinning Peak. I may be able to help."
"A disciple of Skinning Peak?"
Zheng Fengzu hesitated. Disciples of Skinning Peak specialized in handling the hides of demonic beasts, so they naturally knew how to handle human skin as well.
If Fang Huai could help the two clansmen shed their skin, and they nourished themselves with the special Sha here, perhaps they really could break through within three days.
Seeing Zheng Fengzu hesitate, Fang Huai knew there was a chance. He continued, "I'll do this only if you spare my life, Patriarch. I'll work like an ox or a horse for the Zheng Family!"
Hearing Fang Huai say this, the two clansmen found a lifeline and begged Zheng Fengzu to agree.
Seeing the other family members pleading on their behalf, Zheng Fengzu finally said coldly, "Your meridians are crippled. How can you help?"
"The skinning technique isn't difficult. With a teacher's guidance, progress can be swift. Patriarch Zheng can do the cutting himself while I direct him from the side."
Fang Huai met Zheng Fengzu's eyes, his expression utterly sincere.
In the end, Zheng Fengzu nodded.
He cut the Blood Jade roots off Fang Huai and ordered someone to hold him in place. Then, under Fang Huai's instructions, Zheng Fengzu gathered his focus and cut into Zheng Xianguang's skin.
In the past, disciples of the Corpse Sha Sect had done the skinning whenever a clansman shed his Mortal Skin. Doing it himself now inevitably made Zheng Fengzu nervous.
But under Fang Huai's guidance, his movements grew increasingly fluid. He even felt as though he had reached a sudden insight.
Half an hour later, Zheng Xianguang's skin had been removed flawlessly. He sat cross-legged and entered a state of breakthrough.
"As expected of a descendant of a Foundation Establishment cultivator. A little guidance is all it takes for you to handle the work like a fish in water," Fang Huai said.
Zheng Fengzu laughed. "You're a smooth talker. Taking you in as a household slave wouldn't be out of the question."
He had found Essentials of Skinning in Fang Huai's Storage Bag. From now on, he could train the family by following the book and completely replace Fang Huai.
He had only said those things to keep Fang Huai calm and trick him into continuing to help with the skinning.
Once the skinning was done, he would kill Fang Huai at once and eliminate the future threat.
The Zheng Family members were in good spirits. After all, they could save two cultivators who were on the verge of reaching the fourth Qi Refining layer.
Fang Huai was in good spirits too. After all, his plan was going smoothly.
As time passed, the Zheng Family members focused on the patriarch and Zheng Xianrui. Fang Huai seized his chance and gave Liu Xiange, who stood not far away, a look.
Liu Xiange was clever enough to understand at once. She quietly gathered the spiritual energy within her.
"Move the Skinning Knife forward and cut three inches in one swift stroke!"
Zheng Fengzu had entered a state of sudden insight, completely absorbed in skinning. Without thinking, he followed Fang Huai's order.
"Patriarch!"
At the clan members' cries, Zheng Fengzu looked over and saw that he had cut through Zheng Xianrui's neck.
At that moment, Zheng Xianrui's head and torso were connected by only a thin strip of skin and a few strands of flesh.
He stared in disbelief, holding his head with both hands as he desperately circulated spiritual energy to keep it attached to his body.
"You!" Zheng Fengzu couldn't understand why Fang Huai had chosen to sabotage him now. He was about to demand an explanation when he felt a sharp pain in the sole of his foot.
He lifted his foot and saw a hole in his shoe. A black beetle was wriggling its way into his sole.
"Patriarch Zheng, now you can taste what it's like to have insects gnawing at your body."
"Yin Underworld Claw!"
As soon as Fang Huai spoke, two deathly pale hands suddenly appeared beside the Zheng Family members holding him in place, piercing through their bodies.
"Mystic Ice Slash!"
Zheng Fengzu roared, and a blade of ice slashed toward Fang Huai.
Fang Huai nimbly dodged and circled around to the Blood Jade Tree. With a chop of his hand, he severed the root that had pierced Liu Xiange's body.
"Corruption Curse!" Liu Xiange immediately cast the spell. Patches of foul-smelling rot appeared on the Zheng Family disciples' bodies.
"Why aren't any of you affected by the Blood Jade Insects?" Zheng Fengzu roared.
"I'll tell you when you're in your coffin."
Seeing Zheng Shuzu form a spiritual energy barrier to try to stop the Little Corpse Meteor Insect inside him, Fang Huai and Liu Xiange cast spells to keep distracting him.
Of the Zheng Family members, the two most capable fighters after Zheng Fengzu were one who was in the middle of a breakthrough and unable to move, and the other whose neck had been cut. Neither could help at all.
As for the remaining rabble, Liu Xiange's curses had left them almost completely unable to move.
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