Shedding Skin

Fang Huai had handled the hides of countless demon beasts. His technique had long since reached perfection.

But when it came time to skin himself, it was an entirely different feeling.

It felt as though his vitality were being stripped away—a primal fear buried deep in his heart.

Although Liu Xiange had shared her insights on breaking through, she had possessed a Spirit Root from birth. The difference between her and his Spirit Root-less Mortal Body was as vast as heaven and earth.

With no ready-made experience to draw on, he could only rely on his understanding of the Hundred Sha Technique and stake everything on a single throw.

One wrong step, and he would be doomed forever.

"Fang Huai, haven't you always complained that you have no Spirit Root and can't absorb Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi on your own?"

Fang Huai murmured to himself, "Shed my Mortal Skin, break through to the fourth Qi Refining level, and form my own Spirit Root. From then on, the world will be mine!"

His gaze burned. He drove the Skinning Knife into his skin and endured the excruciating pain as he peeled away the layers.

At first, his movements were awkward. But the further he went, the smoother they became, and the deeper he sank into the process. In the end, the pain seemed to dissolve into an empty haze.

Once the skin was fully removed, he sealed his body with spiritual energy, focused his mind, and entered a state so profound it was beyond description.

After his skin was stripped away, his muscles twitched, and blood flowed without stopping.

Later, as spiritual and baleful energy repaired his body, the twitching gradually subsided, and the blood slowly clotted.

He lay like a statue, his vitality withered and all five senses gone.

If not for his steady breathing, he would have been no different from a corpse.

During the Qi Refining stage, the Hundred Sha Technique had three thresholds between life and death.

Each threshold brought another tribulation of life and death, and every breakthrough left behind countless cultivators' bones.

This had also shaped the rules of the Corpse Sha Sect:

Middle-stage Qi Refining cultivators held far higher status than early-stage ones; late-stage cultivators firmly outranked those in the middle stage; and cultivators at Qi Refining Perfection stood above every other Qi Refining cultivator.

Compared with cultivators born with Spirit Roots, his breakthrough was slower and more arduous.

Fortunately, the Sha Qi in the space where the Blood Jade Tree grew was pure, making it highly conducive to a breakthrough.

Five days later, Fang Huai abruptly opened his eyes, a bright glint flashing within them as he exhaled a mouthful of stale air.

Fine, tough new skin had formed across his body, and the spiritual energy within him flowed more smoothly.

[Hundred Sha Technique (Incomplete) Level Four: 1/100]

The fourth Qi Refining level. He had made it!

Overjoyed, he tried to draw Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi into his body.

To his astonishment, wisps of faint spiritual energy really did break free of heaven and earth, flow along his meridians, and gather in his Dantian.

For the first time in his life, he had drawn Qi into his body on his own, without exchanging a label.

Cultivators were not supposed to let their emotions run too high, but Fang Huai's hands trembled with overwhelming excitement.

The agony of skinning, the tribulation between life and death, the burden of having no Spirit Root...

All the hardships he had endured along the way had been worth it!

He inspected his sea of consciousness. At its very center hung a Spirit Root just over an inch long.

In terms of quality, it was no more than the lowest-grade pseudo-Spirit Root: the Sha Spirit Root formed by the Hundred Sha Technique.

Its color, however, was not merely the grayish white described in the technique. It held a touch of dazzling red.

Although the Spirit Root he had formed was inferior, Fang Huai felt no disappointment.

If he had formed a Sha Spirit Root in an ordinary Sha Condensation Ground, it would most likely have been less than an inch long.

Now his Sha Spirit Root exceeded an inch, which clearly put him ahead of ordinary disciples.

The Sha Spirit Root could grow. As long as it absorbed enough alien Sha, in theory, it could even grow beyond a Heavenly Spirit Root.

Why was the Sha Spirit Root he had formed a little longer than ordinary ones?

After thinking it over, Fang Huai surmised that perhaps the Sha Qi filtered by the Blood Jade Tree counted as a kind of alien Sha.

His gaze returned to the Blood Jade Tree.

Fang Huai pondered. He was certain he had seen the red mist produced by burning Blood Jade Leaves inside the Corpse Sha Sect, but he could not remember where.

He had only been to a few places: Servant Valley, the Human Puppet Hall, the Outer Sect Hall, Skinning Peak...

Right, the Human Puppet Hall!

Back then, when he and Jiang Miao had broken into the room of the disciple guarding the Human Puppet Hall, that disciple had been using this very red mist to cultivate.

It seemed that the so-called New Sect had already infiltrated the Corpse Sha Sect.

Fang Huai had originally wanted to report the Blood Jade Tree to the sect in exchange for Contribution Points, but now that he thought about it, he decided against it.

If the sect asked him why the Blood Jade Insects had not corrupted him, he would have no good answer.

After all, the Corpse Meteor Insect near his heart might fool ordinary cultivators, but it could not fool the sect's Soul Searching Technique.

He had planned to take advantage of the pure Sha Qi here to consolidate his cultivation and draw Sha Qi into his body while practicing the Body Forging Technique. But without warning, a stabbing pain came from his sea of consciousness.

His Identity Token grew slightly warm. The Corpse Sha Sect was summoning him back.

Fang Huai marveled at how strange the Corpse Sha Sect's methods were.

When he had first entered the Qi Refining Realm, the sect had sensed it immediately.

Now that he had just broken through to the fourth Qi Refining level, the sect knew at once again.

He had originally wondered whether he might find a chance to escape, but now he thought better of it.

He feared that not long after leaving the sect, he would inexplicably drop dead.

As for this space, Fang Huai had originally wanted to stay and return someday to cultivate with the Sha Qi purified by the Blood Jade Tree.

But then he reconsidered. Outer Disciples were forbidden from leaving the sect at will, and the Zheng Family lay beyond the Corpse Sha Sect's territory. The chances of returning were slim.

What was more, the Zheng Family had been wiped out. The sect might send people here to investigate.

If they happened to discover this space and find traces of his activity inside, he would surely be in trouble.

After thinking it over for a long while, Fang Huai reached toward the formation core.

Waves surged, and a series of muffled explosions rang out beneath the water. The massive shockwaves sent demon beasts within dozens of miles fleeing in a panic.

Not far away, Fang Huai burst through the water on his Fish Leap Boat and sped toward the Zheng Family's residence.

Before parting with Liu Xiange, he had specifically told her to bring the surviving members of the Zheng Family back to the Corpse Sha Sect as prisoners.

But he still couldn't put his mind at ease, so he decided to go and see for himself.

Sunlight glittered on the rippling water, and fish leapt from its surface. It was a scene of perfect peace.

Apart from being deserted, the Zheng Family's ancestral residence was no different from how it had been half a month ago.

Fang Huai spread his spiritual energy through the area, searching each building for people. A moment later, his brows furrowed.

The place was indeed empty, but bloodstains could be seen everywhere, proof that something out of the ordinary had happened here.

As he pondered, a battered corpse suddenly floated up from beneath the water, a length of thick rope still tied around it.

Could it be...?

Fang Huai shuddered and immediately steered the Fish Leap Boat down into the water.

The murky depths were packed with corpses!

Someone had tied the bodies to rocks with ropes and sunk them underwater.

Though demon beasts, fish, and shrimp had gnawed them to pieces, the despair and pain frozen on their faces remained unmistakable.

Had Liu Xiange ignored his instructions?

Or had the sect's disciples arrived before her and slaughtered every last member of the Zheng Family?

Fang Huai couldn't make sense of it. Surely Liu Xiange hadn't killed them herself?

Had something else happened along the way?

Perhaps something else had gone wrong?

He had to hurry back to the sect and see whether Liu Xiange had returned safely.

At that thought, spiritual energy surged around Fang Huai. He used the Light Body Technique and hurried toward the Corpse Sha Sect.