Opportunity

At high noon the next day, the scorching sun hung in the sky, marking the moment when Yang energy was at its peak.

Xia Dong intended to investigate the interior of the dry well.

He made thorough preparations, then instructed Xiao Hong to keep watch at the wellhead, telling her that if the rope he lowered moved, she should pull it up immediately or run off to call for help.

Once everything was arranged, Xia Dong slowly climbed down along the well wall.

As the depth increased, the light gradually dimmed, but the water at the bottom had become remarkably clear, no longer possessing the chilling, eerie green glow from the previous night.

Xia Dong planted his feet on a protruding rock slightly above the water level at the bottom of the well. He carefully felt around the perimeter and soon discovered a concealed horizontal passage two feet above the water surface.

This passage was over half a person's height and was dry. Xia Dong lowered his body and squeezed inside like a nimble cat.

The passage was not long; after crawling about ten steps, the view suddenly opened up.

He had actually entered a square underground secret chamber!

What surprised Xia Dong was that this chamber, buried deep underground, felt neither stuffy nor foul; the air was actually quite fresh. Even more magical was that the moment he stepped inside, a soft glow lit up on the walls at the four corners of the chamber, illuminating the entire space, yet there was no sign of any light source like candles or night-luminescent pearls.

Is this the method of an immortal cultivator? Xia Dong thought to himself.

By the soft light, he immediately caught sight of the scene in the center of the chamber.

A stark white skeleton sat cross-legged there, its clothing long since weathered to dust. On the smooth stone slab in front of the skeleton, twenty crystal-clear spirit stones were neatly arranged!

Xia Dong's breath hitched.

Besides the spirit stones, there was a dark green jade slip beside the skeleton, along with a tattered little black banner.

Suppressing the urge in his heart, Xia Dong did not immediately touch the spirit stones, but instead carefully picked up the jade slip. He had seen this sort of thing many times in the xianxia novels of his past life; it was mostly used for recording information.

However, he had no spiritual roots and no spiritual power; how was he supposed to open it?

Xia Dong tried pressing it against his forehead, concentrating all his mental energy, and attempted to perceive it with his "will."

Hum.

He felt a faint prick of pain in his mind, as if a significant amount of strength had been drained from his soul.

But at the same time, a complex stream of information surged into his mind along with the jade slip.

It turned out that after entering the path of martial arts, one's blood and energy would flourish and nourish the physical body. When the spirit is full, the energy is sufficient, and vice versa.

This made Xia Dong's soul much more resilient than that of an ordinary person.

Therefore, although the jade slip required the divine sense of an immortal cultivator to view easily, if a mortal's soul was strong enough, it was possible to force a perception with their will, though it was extremely taxing on the mind.

He rubbed his temples, quickly digesting the contents of the jade slip.

This was actually the introductory volume of a demonic cultivation technique called the Profound Yin Scripture!

What surprised Xia Dong even more was that this technique could be practiced by ordinary people.

The Profound Yin Scripture leaned toward the ghost path.

It also allowed for the refining of a magical artifact called the Yin Gathering Banner by capturing wandering spirits, ghosts, or the living souls of people.

As long as one continuously fed and refined it with their own essence blood, even a mortal without spiritual roots could use this to control the Yin Gathering Banner and command the vengeful ghosts within to fight against martial artists and immortal cultivators.

Furthermore, the Profound Yin Scripture contained an extremely tyrannical Mysterious Yin Spirit Refining technique—it could directly refine and absorb the power of ghosts and living souls to strengthen the practitioner's own soul!

As long as one absorbed enough, even a mortal could forcibly give birth to the divine sense that an immortal cultivator would only possess upon reaching the "fourth level of Qi Refining."

With divine sense, one's perception would undergo a qualitative leap, among many other benefits.

However, the jade slip contained a stern warning: absorbing ghosts and living souls would inevitably draw their lingering resentment and Sha Qi into the body.

Over time, the practitioner would be plagued by these negative emotions, leading to the dissipation of blood and energy, a fall in cultivation realm, a deviation into madness, and ultimately the loss of sanity.

Unless one could use "pure Yin spirit power" to assist in cultivation.

This pure Yin spirit power contained no resentment; absorbing it not only had no side effects, but the aura it displayed was identical to orthodox immortal soul cultivation, with no need to worry about being branded an evil cultivator.

Seeing this, Xia Dong recalled the two "Yin Evil Pill" items refined by the Bronze Ancient Bell last night.

The ghost's resentment and Sha Qi had long since been refined away completely by the ancient bell; perhaps this pill contained the pure Yin spirit power.

Xia Dong suppressed the agitation in his heart and looked again at the tattered little black banner beside the skeleton.

The terrifying shadow that crawled out of the well last night was actually the artifact spirit of the Yin Gathering Banner left behind by this skeleton during its lifetime!

It was a pity that this fierce artifact spirit had collided head-on with the Bronze Ancient Bell and was directly refined by it. Having lost its artifact spirit, this fierce Yin Gathering Banner had now been reduced to a broken, low-grade magical artifact.

Xia Dong took a deep breath and bundled the jade slip, the tattered banner, and the twenty spirit stones into his arms.

Afterward, Xia Dong returned the way he came, quickly climbed out of the dry well using the hemp rope, and sent Xiao Hong away.

After several days of pondering the Profound Yin Scripture, Xia Dong gradually gained some confidence and began to attempt the Mysterious Yin Spirit Refining technique.

However, to practice the Mysterious Yin Spirit Refining method, one had to refine Yin spirit power to get started, so he still had to consume the Yin Evil Pill.

He took a deep breath, calmed his mind, fished out a pitch-black Yin Evil Pill from his robes, and swallowed it.

The medicinal pill melted the moment it touched his tongue. Instead of the bitterness typical of common herbs, it transformed into an icy, pure stream of energy. This current did not sink into his dantian but surged directly toward the center of Xia Dong's brow, into his sea of consciousness!

Xia Dong dared not be negligent; he immediately squeezed his eyes shut and began to cultivate according to the meditation and breathing techniques of the Mysterious Yin Spirit Refining.

BOOM!

The icy current exploded within his sea of consciousness, yet it carried none of the resentment or brutality of a vengeful ghost. It was as pure as the clearest ice spring in the depths of winter, rapidly nourishing Xia Dong's soul.

Xia Dong felt an indescribable clarity and transparency bloom in his heart, as if his soul were being soaked in a cool spring, constantly stretched and tempered. His five senses were rapidly amplified in this moment; even with his eyes closed, he could clearly "hear" the trajectory of withered leaves falling in the courtyard and could even perceive the steady breathing of Xiao Hong in the adjacent room.

Half an hour later, the medicinal power was completely absorbed.

Xia Dong slowly opened his eyes and stepped out into the courtyard. At this moment, even the fine dust on the ground and the texture of the jujube tree branches became vivid, as if they held infinite secrets waiting to be explored.

The small world within the courtyard suddenly felt much "wider."

Xia Dong knew very well that while he was still a long way from the "divine sense" mentioned in the jade slip—which cultivators could only project at the fourth level of Qi Refining—he had truly and firmly stepped across the threshold of the Profound Yin Scripture.

This pure strengthening of his soul made his heart increasingly peaceful and his resolve toward the Dao ever more steadfast.

Xia Dong intended to strike while the iron was hot and attempt to practice the Five Animals Health Fist he had obtained from the county office.

However, after practicing the movements for half an hour, he stopped in frustration.

"Although this Five Animals Health Fist is comprehensive, it feels awkward and sluggish in my hands," Xia Dong frowned.

With his strengthened soul, his control over his muscles and his perception of the blood energy within his body had reached a new level. He could clearly perceive that the Five Animals Health Fist existed in subtle friction and conflict with the Crane Stance he had been practicing.

Xia Dong shook his head and decisively abandoned the Five Animals Health Fist. He bent his knees slightly, stretched his arms, and resumed the Crane Stance he was most familiar with.

Under the precise regulation of his powerful soul, this iteration of the Crane Stance was perfect, reaching a state without a single flaw!

He also discovered that the Crane Stance seemed tailor-made for his current body; the two were an incredibly perfect fit.

Even though the realm of the Crane Stance had been locked at "Limit Breaking," preventing him from comprehending new moves, it continued to strengthen his foundation of blood energy day after day.

What surprised Xia Dong even more was that the residual medicinal power of the Yin Evil Pill in his body was now producing a marvelous reaction under the impact of his boiling blood energy!

One cold, one hot; one Yin, one Yang.

This conflicting power did not damage his meridians; instead, under the harmonization of the perfect Crane Stance, it continuously stimulated and tempered his skin.

Xia Dong felt a wave of numbness and stinging across his skin, as if countless tiny grains of iron sand were polishing his flesh. When he finished his practice, a thin layer of gray dead skin rubbed off his body. The newly born skin, while seemingly fair, felt much tougher to the touch; even when he scratched it hard with his fingernails, it left only a faint white mark.

"The extreme Yin power of the Yin Evil Pill can actually replace the poisons and iron sand of external martial arts to help me temper my skin!"

Xia Dong took a deep breath. Relying solely on the residual power of one Yin Evil Pill, he had naturally touched the threshold of the second stage of martial arts: the Skin Grinding Realm.

Over the next few days, Xia Dong consumed and refined the remaining Yin Evil Pill.

His soul became increasingly stable, and his skin grew tougher under the tempering of the alternating cold and heat.

Furthermore, as his practice of the Crane Stance deepened, the blood energy within his body grew more and more vigorous.

With a slight clench of his fist, the veins on his arms bulged like coiling dragons, and his body was filled with a violent power that felt as if it might burst his skin.

"My blood energy is too abundant. Although the Crane Stance can continuously nourish it, it leans toward light movement and health preservation, lacking an offensive method to vent and hone this violent power."

Xia Dong stood in the courtyard and threw a sudden punch into the air; the force of the wind caused the leaves of the jujube tree a yard away to scatter in flight.

He realized that the blood energy within him was like a hidden python or giant serpent; he needed to find a way to control his vigorous blood energy to perfectly apply his martial cultivation in actual combat.

The martial arts made public by the imperial court were still too shallow and did not meet Xia Dong's requirements.

Xia Dong thought of Miss Qin. Given her background in the Qixia Immortal Sect, she should not lack martial arts manuals. After all, martial artists were likely the "talent" that the Immortal Sects desperately needed in this current era.

Thus, Xia Dong began to write a letter.

He was replying to Miss Qin, his former fiancée and fellow cultivator pen pal.

The letter began by stating that if his future children possessed spiritual roots, he would certainly trade them to her in exchange for Foundation Establishment Pills.

In any case, he lacked spiritual roots himself, so he would never be able to receive those Foundation Establishment Pills.