Enigmas

Fang Huai repeatedly struck at Zheng Fengzu with the Yin Underworld Claw, while Liu Xiange cast curses to burden him with negative status effects.

Caught between the two, Zheng Fengzu was drenched in sweat and growing increasingly frantic.

Already drained of spiritual power from performing the Skinning Technique, and now forced to split his focus suppressing the Little Corpse Meteor Insects rampaging inside him, he was long past his limit.

Suddenly, a stabbing pain shot through his heart—

The Little Corpse Meteor Insects had broken through his defenses and burrowed inside!

His mind and spirit shook, a flaw appeared, and the Yin Underworld Claw pierced through his chest.

Seeing Zheng Fengzu fall, Fang Huai didn't let his guard down. He struck again with the Yin Underworld Claw, this time piercing through his qi sea.

"Patriarch Zheng, letting your guard down against an enemy never ends well." Fang Huai stared coldly at Zheng Fengzu.

With his qi sea shattered, spiritual power leaked out, and his cultivation realm plummeted layer by layer. He was no longer a threat.

Liu Xiange retrieved her storage pouch, pulled out several long ropes, and with a flick of her wrist, bound Zheng Fengzu and the remaining Zheng clan members:

"These Monster Binding Ropes, meant for tying down beasts, finally came in handy today."

The two sat cross-legged, circulating their spiritual power to force the Blood Jade Insects out of their bodies.

"Senior Brother Fang, what do we do now?"

Liu Xiange had already checked Lin Qian. He hadn't survived the Blood Jade Insect's gnawing and was dead.

With a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator fallen, the sect would inevitably sense it. They might even send someone soon.

Fang Huai leaned close to her ear and whispered a few words.

Liu Xiange frowned, wanting to refuse, but seeing the firmness in Fang Huai's eyes, she gritted her teeth and agreed.

She walked over to the Zheng clan members, who were being tortured beyond endurance by her curses. With a wave of her hand, she withdrew her spiritual power, and they immediately felt much better.

Fang Huai spoke: "We have no intention of making things hard for the ordinary members of the Zheng clan. Before the Corpse Sha Sect arrives, seal the formation quickly and leave."

The Zheng clan members were grateful and moved to take Zheng Fengzu with them, but Fang Huai blocked them:

"Zheng Fengzu killed two senior brothers of our sect. His crimes are too numerous to record, and there is no room for mercy.

If you want to take him with you, then all of you can stay here and keep him company."

The Zheng clan members exchanged glances, looking at Zheng Fengzu with hesitant eyes.

Zheng Fengzu let out a soft sigh and nodded, signaling for his clan to leave.

Outside the formation, Liu Xiange rode the Corpse Sha Bird, ferrying the Zheng clan members one by one to the sky-blue stone pillars.

The Zheng clan members exchanged looks, not daring to delay, and immediately poured their spiritual power into the pillars.

In an instant, the marsh water surged violently, turning into rolling blue waves that once again covered the space below tightly.

But at that moment, all the Zheng clan members' faces changed drastically.

Their spiritual power scattered, their flesh and blood tore apart, as if tens of thousands of insects were gnawing at them.

In just a few breaths, blood flowed from their seven orifices, and their life force was severed.

Liu Xiange waved her hand, and the corpses of the Zheng clan members fell into the waves, becoming food for the demon beasts.

Then, riding the Corpse Sha Bird, she flew toward the direction of the Zheng clan's residence.

Inside the formation, Fang Huai sat cross-legged, drawing heaven and earth's spiritual energy into his body.

Zheng Fengzu, meanwhile, was drenched in sweat, questioning his existence.

His qi sea was broken, sure—but why couldn't he even perform Spirit Absorption anymore?

Fang Huai shook his head inwardly: You think I kept you alive for nothing? If I hadn't been after your [Spirit Absorption], I'd have sent you to the afterlife long ago.

To prevent Zheng Fengzu from giving up entirely and taking his own life, or doing something else reckless, Fang Huai returned [Spirit Absorption] to him for half an hour every six hours.

But half an hour wasn't enough to repair the qi sea.

Before it could finish healing, Fang Huai would take [Spirit Absorption] back again, shattering whatever progress Zheng Fengzu had made.

Absorb, shatter. Absorb, shatter...

Zheng Fengzu finally broke. A crazed look appeared on his face as he quietly crept toward the edge of the formation.

"Fang Huai, I know I can't escape, and I don't want to live on in disgrace. If I can take you with me, it won't be a loss."

A hint of sorrow filled his eyes: "What a pity. If I had gone to the New Sect earlier, maybe things would have turned out differently.

Ancestor, the formation eye you left behind is about to serve its purpose."

His trembling hand reached for the formation eye. With just a gentle twist, the clan's protective formation would self-destruct, sending him to apologize to his ancestor.

"What are you mumbling about?"

Zheng Fengzu's hand was caught. He looked up to see Fang Huai smirking at him:

"If you want to die, go die on your own. Don't drag me into it."

He tossed it aside and continued, "You kept talking about the New Sect earlier—what exactly is this New Sect?"

Zheng Fengzu spat a mouthful of saliva: "Want to know? Wait for your next life."

Fang Huai's lips curled upward: "No need for the next life. I have a way to find out in this one."

Half an hour later, Fang Huai tossed Zheng Fengzu's tattered corpse beside the Blood Jade Tree, letting it absorb the blood and qi.

"Blood Jade Tree, the Zheng family head raised you for so many years, and in the end, you devoured him clean."

The demon sect had many methods for extracting information—beyond spells like the Soul Searching Technique and Illusion Technique, they often used physical means as well.

Zheng Fengzu started off stubborn, but before long, he had confessed everything.

Ten years ago, a green-robed Foundation Establishment cultivator claiming to be from the New Sect came to the Zheng family, gave Zheng Fengzu a Blood Jade Tree seed, and instructed him on how to nurture it.

By infusing the Blood Jade Tree with the blood and qi of living beings, it could be spurred to bear more leaves.

Blood Jade Leaves had multiple uses—they could induce hallucinations, aid in cultivation, or be turned into curse gu that killed without a trace.

The cultivator promised that as long as the Zheng family nurtured the Blood Jade Tree well, if they ever faced trouble, they could head north and seek refuge with the New Sect.

To protect the Blood Jade Tree, the Zheng family relocated their entire clan.

They planted it within their clan's protective formation, stationed their guardian beast atop it, and periodically opened the formation to feed it beast carcasses while harvesting Blood Jade Leaves for cultivation.

Fang Huai exhausted every means at his disposal, and this was all the information he obtained.

With a wave of the Soul Banner, Zheng Fengzu's remnant soul was sucked inside.

In truth, the Zheng family were pitiable people, and Fang Huai had no desire to wipe them out completely.

But if he didn't do this, and that so-called New Sect cultivator used a soul-summoning method to call back Zheng Fengzu's soul, it would inevitably expose him.

Provoking a Foundation Establishment cultivator—he didn't think he had any chance of survival.

As for the New Sect cultivator's promise that Zheng Fengzu could head north to find him, it was likely a lie.

Its only purpose was to trick Zheng Fengzu into helping raise this Blood Jade Tree.

Before Liu Xiange departed, he had already instructed her to say that the Zheng family head had betrayed the sect, ambushed and killed Lin Qian and Wu Sanli, and was then slain by the two of them together.

As for him, after surviving a life-or-death battle, he had sensed an opportunity for breakthrough and gone to find a place of condensed sha to break through, returning to the sect only after advancing.

This lie was riddled with holes and couldn't withstand scrutiny, but Fang Huai had long prepared a countermeasure.

He returned the Corpse Sha Bird and the belongings of Lin Qian and Wu Sanli to their respective peaks, and handed the Azure Wave Jade Carp's demon core and both eyes to the elder of Liu Xiange's peak.

Tempted by the Water Spirit Pearl, the elder of that peak would surely help cover up the lie.

And the peaks of Lin Qian and Wu Sanli, having retrieved their belongings, would find it hard to raise further objections.

Hundred Sha Technique (Incomplete Scroll) Layer Three: 100/100

Now, it was time for him to break through!

Taking a deep breath, he retrieved the Skinning Knife, infused it with spiritual power, and sliced open his skin.