Shedding Skin

Fang Huai had processed countless demon beast hides, his technique long since perfected.

But when it came to skinning himself, it was an entirely different sensation.

It was a feeling of life being stripped away, an innate fear buried deep in his heart.

Though Liu Xiange had shared her breakthrough insights, she was born with a spirit root, worlds apart from his mortal body that lacked one entirely.

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

One wrong step, and he would be doomed beyond redemption.

"Fang Huai, haven't you always complained about having no spirit root, unable to absorb heaven and earth's spiritual energy on your own?"

Fang Huai muttered to himself: "Shed this mortal skin, break through to Qi Refining fourth layer, forge my own spirit root—from then on, the sky's the limit!"

His gaze burned bright as the skinning knife pierced his hide. Biting back the searing pain, he peeled the skin away layer by layer.

At first, his movements were stiff, but as he went on, they grew smoother, his mind sinking deeper into focus, until the pain itself became a distant emptiness.

Once the skin was completely stripped, he sealed his body with spiritual energy, steadied his mind into meditation, and gradually sank into a profound, mysterious state.

After shedding the skin, his muscles twitched and blood flowed without restraint.

But as time passed, with the twin energies of spirit and sha repairing his body, the twitching slowly subsided, and the blood gradually congealed.

He stood like a statue, vitality withered, all five senses lost.

If not for his steady breathing, he would have been indistinguishable from a corpse.

The Hundred Sha Technique at the Qi Refining stage had three life-or-death thresholds.

Each threshold was a trial of life and death, each breakthrough littered with the bones of countless cultivators.

This had forged the Corpse Sha Sect's rule:

Qi Refining mid-stage disciples far outranked those at the early stage; late-stage disciples held sway over the mid-stage; and Qi Refining Perfection Realm disciples stood above all Qi Refining cultivators.

Compared to those born with innate spirit roots, his breakthrough was slower and more arduous.

Fortunately, the sha qi in the space where the Blood Jade Tree grew was pure, greatly aiding his breakthrough.

Five days later, Fang Huai's eyes snapped open, a sharp gleam flashing within them as he expelled a mouthful of turbid breath.

A fine, tough new skin had grown over his body, and his spiritual energy circulated far more smoothly.

[Hundred Sha Technique (Incomplete Scroll) Fourth Layer: 1/100]

Qi Refining fourth layer—achieved!

Ecstasy surged in his heart as he attempted to draw heaven and earth's spiritual energy into his body.

Thin strands of spiritual energy actually broke free from the world's constraints, flowing along his meridians and converging in his dantian.

For the first time in his life, without relying on a trade tag, he had initiated Spirit Absorption on his own.

A cultivator should not be swayed by excessive emotion, but at this moment, Fang Huai's hands trembled, his heart pounding with overwhelming excitement.

The pain of skinning, the trial of life and death, the plight of lacking a spirit root...

All the suffering along the way—it was worth it!

He examined his sea of consciousness, and at its very center hung a spirit root just over an inch long.

In terms of quality, it was nothing more than the lowest-grade pseudo spirit root, the Sha Spirit Root condensed by the Hundred Sha Technique.

But its color was not the gray-white described in the technique; it bore a hint of eerie red.

Though the spirit root he had formed was inferior, Fang Huai showed no trace of disappointment.

If he had condensed a Sha Spirit Root in an ordinary sha-gathering ground, its length would most likely have fallen short of an inch.

Now, the Sha Spirit Root he had condensed exceeded an inch, clearly putting him ahead of ordinary disciples.

Sha Spirit Roots could grow—by absorbing enough exotic sha, they could theoretically evolve to surpass even a Heavenly Spirit Root.

Why was his Sha Spirit Root longer than average?

After some thought, Fang Huai deduced that the sha qi filtered through the Blood Jade Tree might itself count as a form of exotic sha.

His gaze returned to the Blood Jade Tree.

Fang Huai pondered. He was certain he had seen the red mist from burning Blood Jade Leaves within the Corpse Sha Sect, but he couldn't recall where.

The places he had been were few: Servant Valley, Human Puppet Hall, Outer Sect Hall, Skinning Peak...

Right, Human Puppet Hall!

Back when he and Jiang Miao had broken into the caretaker disciple's room at Human Puppet Hall, that disciple had been cultivating using this very red mist.

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

Fang Huai had originally planned to report the Blood Jade Tree to the sect in exchange for contribution points, but now he thought better of it.

If the sect asked why the Blood Jade Worms hadn't eroded him, he wouldn't have a good answer.

After all, the Corpse Meteor Insect in his heart could fool ordinary cultivators, but it couldn't escape the sect's soul-searching techniques.

He had intended to use the pure sha qi here to solidify his cultivation and draw sha qi into his body to train the Body Forging Technique, but without warning, a piercing pain shot through his sea of consciousness.

The identity token grew slightly warm—the Corpse Sha Sect was summoning him back to the sect.

Fang Huai sighed. The Corpse Sha Sect's methods were truly eerie.

Back when he first stepped into the Qi Refining realm, the sect had detected it instantly;

now that he had just broken through to the fourth layer of Qi Refining, the sect knew again right away.

He had originally thought about finding a chance to escape, but thinking it over now, he decided to forget it.

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

As for this space, Fang Huai had initially wanted to keep it, planning to return sometime to cultivate using the purified Sha Qi from the Blood Jade Tree.

But on second thought, Outer Disciples were forbidden from leaving the sect freely, and the Zheng family estate lay outside the Corpse Sha Sect's jurisdiction—the chance of returning was slim.

What's more, the Zheng family had been wiped out, and the sect might send people to investigate this place.

If they happened to discover this space and found traces of his activity inside, he would surely suffer for it.

After pondering for a long time, Fang Huai reached toward the array's eye.

Waves churned, and bursts of explosions rang out from beneath the water. The massive shockwaves sent beasts within dozens of li fleeing in panic.

Not far away, Fang Huai burst out of the water aboard the Fish Leap Boat, speeding toward the Zheng family estate.

Before parting with Liu Xiange, he had specifically instructed her to escort the surviving Zheng family members back to the Corpse Sha Sect.

But he still couldn't rest easy, so he decided to go see for himself.

The water shimmered, fish leaped from the surface—a scene of peace.

The Zheng family estate was no different from half a month ago, except that it was utterly deserted.

Fang Huai spread his spiritual energy, searching each house for any sign of people. After a moment, his brow furrowed tightly.

There was indeed no one here, but the bloodstains left everywhere told of something unusual that had happened.

As he was thinking, a mutilated corpse suddenly floated up from the water, a length of coarse rope still tied around it.

Could it be...?

Fang Huai jolted, immediately steering the Fish Leap Boat down into the depths.

The murky water bottom was filled with densely packed corpses!

These bodies had been tied to stones with ropes and sunk to the bottom.

Though they had been gnawed ragged by beasts and fish, the despair and pain frozen on their faces were still clearly discernible.

Had Liu Xiange not followed his instructions?

Or had sect disciples arrived before her and butchered the Zheng family outright?

Fang Huai simply couldn't figure it out. It couldn't be that Liu Xiange had killed them herself, could it?

Had some other unexpected incident occurred along the way?

Perhaps something else had happened?

He needed to return to the sect quickly and see if Liu Xiange had made it back safely.

With that thought, Fang Huai's spiritual energy surged. He activated a Light Body Technique and sped off toward the Corpse Sha Sect.