Practicing Dark Arts

Shen Yue snatched up Li Wuyou's Soul-Devouring Halberd and storage pouch, then raised his head toward the sky, his battle intent soaring.

"Old dog, come fight!"

Before his words had even faded, the space around him turned illusory.

A blood-red hand came crashing down, its five fingers plunging into the earth. The soil, rocks, and trees within several miles were squeezed into a ball.

"Spatial shifting?!"

Amid the black clouds, Blood Butcher True Person froze.

He gave a cold snort, and countless threads of karma darted through the void like a spiderweb.

And yet—

"Nothing?"

Blood Butcher True Person was shocked and furious.

"Impossible!"

He had sealed all of Fallen Leaf Valley with his immense power. Let alone spatial shifting cast by a mere sixth-layer Breath Refinement cultivator—even someone at the Dao Realm shouldn't have been able to escape so easily.

The blood-red hand suddenly clenched. The ball of earth in its palm exploded, sending broken stones flying in every direction.

"Little thief, I swear I'll kill you!"

His voice rolled out in waves, shaking the land for a hundred miles.

By the lakeside, in a small courtyard at Chusheng Market.

Shen Yue sat cross-legged, regulating his breathing as spiritual power circulated slowly through his body.

After a long while, he opened his eyes.

"A Dao Foundation powerhouse... truly terrifying."

The instant that blood-red hand came down, he had felt firsthand what it meant to be an ant.

"If I'd been even a fraction slower just now..."

He would have been reduced to ashes.

Shen Yue silently warned himself to be more cautious next time.

"The Golden Wave Water Dragon Spirit Array is powerful, but its spiritual-energy consumption is simply too great."

The Golden Wave Water Dragon that had killed Li Wuyou had been a formation he crafted using the Five-Colored Pearl and Tide Rising Pearl as its formation cores, combined with ten other spirit artifacts.

Its power was indeed impressive, but its consumption was truly terrifying. It had nearly drained him of all his magical power.

"Still, fortune favors the bold."

Shen Yue swept his sleeve, and five items flew out.

The first was the Withered Grass Treasure Robe, a choice-grade upper-grade spirit artifact. It could summon blades of grass and even hundreds or thousands of vines to attack.

The second and third were the Feather Cloak and Golden Light Rosy Crown.

Looking at the two upper-grade spirit artifacts, Shen Yue thought of Chehou Yan acting like a lovesick puppy and couldn't help laughing.

Everyone knew that simps never came to a good end.

But these two spirit artifacts were unquestionably excellent.

The Feather Cloak had astonishing defensive power, while the Golden Light Rosy Crown could summon golden-armored warriors to fight.

Together, one for defense and one for offense, they were no weaker than the Withered Grass Treasure Robe.

Unfortunately, he could only control the three upper-grade spirit artifacts at a rudimentary level.

Otherwise, he wouldn't need twelve spirit artifacts to assemble the Golden Wave Water Dragon Array. These three treasures and the Five-Colored Pearl alone would have been enough to deal with that demonic cultivator.

Fortunately, the outcome wouldn't have been much different.

Shen Yue looked at the blood-red halberd that had dropped after he killed Li Wuyou.

"The Soul-Devouring Halberd, an upper-grade spirit artifact... Every move can devour another person's spiritual power..."

Shen Yue's eyes lit up.

"No wonder my spiritual power felt sluggish when we fought."

"The four upper-grade spirit artifacts each have their own strengths."

The Withered Grass Treasure Robe specialized in offense, the Feather Cloak in defense, the Golden Light Rosy Crown summoned warriors, and the Soul-Devouring Halberd devoured...

Shen Yue played with the halberd for a while, then put it away and turned his attention to the black storage pouch.

A late-stage Breath Refinement demonic prodigy's storage pouch—what good things might it contain?

He probed it with his divine sense, then froze.

"...He's this poor?"

There were more than a hundred spirit stones, three small bottles, and two booklets. Nothing else.

Even he, a minor cultivator at the second layer of Breath Refinement, had over six hundred spirit stones in his storage pouch.

The only thing worth noting was that this pouch had three times the storage space of his own.

Shen Yue moved his spirit stones, spirit artifacts, and miscellaneous belongings into the black storage pouch, then inspected the three bottles.

The first two contained blood-red pills he didn't recognize.

But given their strong stench of blood, they were probably no orthodox medicine.

The third bottle held a smooth, round pill. It was pure white, with a faint fragrance drifting from it.

"A Barrier Breaking Pill!" Shen Yue exclaimed in delight.

The only thing lacking on this trip had been the chance to buy a pill for breaking through.

Now he was all set. Someone had delivered one right to his door.

"With this pill, breaking through to the middle stage of Breath Refinement shouldn't be much of a problem."

He put away the Barrier Breaking Pill and picked up the two booklets.

The first had three large seal-script characters on its cover: [Spirit Devouring Art].

"A technique specifically for controlling the Soul-Devouring Halberd?"

Shen Yue skimmed through it quickly, growing more astonished with every page.

The more deeply one cultivated this art, the more powerful the Soul-Devouring Halberd became.

At a high level, the halberd could not only devour another person's spiritual power, but also replenish its wielder.

"Good stuff."

The second booklet contained a blood-killing art called [Blood Shadow Soul Chasing Art]. It could lock onto an enemy's aura and pursue them for a thousand miles.

Shen Yue opened it and glanced over the contents, frowning.

Every page was filled with sinister methods of blood sacrifice, curses, tracking, and taking lives.

"Demonic cultivators are utterly depraved, defying heaven and reason!"

Shen Yue condemned them righteously.

Then he picked up the booklet and began cultivating it with full concentration.

Three months later.

Whoosh!

A surge of spiritual energy burst out from the courtyard.

"Success!"

Shen Yue opened his eyes, a glint of light flashing through them.

With the Barrier Breaking Pill and three months of arduous cultivation, he had finally broken through to the fourth layer of Breath Refinement!

At a thought, the [Nine Heavens Profound Mirror] flashed with golden light, and in an instant, all his fourth-layer Breath Refinement magical power turned into Qi Refinement spiritual power.

"Ninth-layer Qi Refinement!"

With another thought, all his spiritual power turned back into magical power.

"Ninth-layer Breath Refinement!"

Feeling the surging magical power within him, Shen Yue's smile grew wider.

But after maintaining it for only a moment, he returned to his normal cultivation level.

There was no helping it. The extra magical power at the ninth layer of Breath Refinement came from the energy stored in the [Nine Heavens Profound Mirror], and the energy he had expended on his trip to Ancient Wei still hadn't fully recovered.

Aside from his cultivation, he had also made great progress in his arts.

On the first golden page of the [Nine Heavens Profound Mirror]:

[Earth Origin Sand Condensing Art (Great Accomplishment)]

[Spirit Devouring Art (Minor Accomplishment)]

[Blood Shadow Soul Chasing Art (Minor Accomplishment)]

[Heaven Origin Golden Light Hand (Perfected)]

"With this level of cultivation, I'd be confident in a fight even against Chen Yunxi."

"Even if I encountered another demonic cultivator like Li Wuyou, I wouldn't need four or five upper-grade spirit artifacts to hold the line."

At last, he had some means to protect himself.

"But it's still not enough."

Shen Yue remembered all too well the power of that Dao Foundation cultivator's palm in Fallen Leaf Valley, Ancient Wei.

"Dao Foundation..." he murmured, calming his thoughts.

"First, I'll go collect the scrap."

Over the past three months, aside from cultivation, he had spent all his remaining time crafting spirit artifacts.

By now, he had as many as thirty-seven spirit artifacts on him.

Besides the five upper-grade spirit artifacts—the Five-Colored Pearl, Withered Grass Treasure Robe, Feather Cloak, Golden Light Rosy Crown, and Soul-Devouring Halberd—he also had seven middle-grade spirit artifacts, including the Tide Rising Pearl, Mystic Water Spirit Boat, and Green-Patterned Gourd.

"I'll forge two more batches of spirit artifacts and complete the Kan and Li positions in the Golden Wave Water Dragon Spirit Array..."

Shen Yue's lips curled into a smile.

"My artifact-crafting skills are about ready to make an appearance."

A small boat cut across the water, slowly entering Refining Lake.

A thin mist hung over the lake like a veil of gauze.

Standing at the bow, Shen Yue controlled the Heaven Origin Golden Light Hand to gather scrap.

"Artifact Master Shen is collecting scrap himself."

Through the mist, a three-leaf boat cut across the water. Eight people stood aboard, including Changqin Wuming.

They were the team from Clear-Turbid Island that collected discarded qi. Thanks to Changqin Wuming, Shen Yue knew them all.

Their leader, Li Sheng, had broken through to the seventh layer of Qi Refinement just last month. Now he was Chen Tong's right-hand man. He not only collected discarded qi, but also took on patrol duties.

"At this rate, Artifact Master Shen will refine all the scrap on Refining Lake," Li Sheng teased.

Word of Shen Yue's artifact crafting had already spread across Refining Lake.

It wasn't Changqin Wuming who had told people. Chen Tong had mentioned it to Li Sheng once, and soon everyone knew.

Shen Yue smiled and said, "Once I become an artifact master, I'll give everyone a discount."

The others laughed, and the mood was lighthearted.

Li Sheng, however, turned serious and advised him earnestly:

"Brother Shen, becoming an artifact master takes a legacy and resources."

"If all it took was tossing a pile of scrap into a furnace and melting it down, we'd all be artifact masters by now."

"You'd better give up while you can and come work with me."

Li Sheng patted his chest.

"I can't promise much else, but you'll never be short of the resources you need for ordinary cultivation."

Since Shen Yue had gained some foundation in formations, and because of his connection to Changqin Wuming, Li Sheng thought highly of him and had been trying to recruit him.

"Right, Old Shen, come work with us," Changqin Wuming urged too.

Shen Yue smiled. "Thanks. I'll think about it."

With that, he continued gathering scrap.

Li Sheng shook his head and said no more. He took the others to patrol the lake.

After making a few rounds, Li Sheng went to report to the administrator, Chen Tong, at Cuiwei Island.

"Administrator, everything on the island is in order."

"Mm." Chen Tong nodded.

Li Sheng sensibly took his leave.

"Chen Tong, come out!"

Just then, a stern voice came from outside.

Chen Tong's expression tightened, and he hurried out.

A handsome young man with a sword at his waist stood outside.

"Cousin, what brings you here?"

"How many times have I told you? When we're working, use my title." The young man's gaze was cold.

"Yes... Inspector Yuliang," Chen Tong said quickly with a placating smile.

Chen Yuliang clasped his hands behind his back, his gaze like a blade. "Why has the amount of scrap we've collected lately gone down?"

Chen Tong started and hurriedly explained, "There's a young cultivator named Shen Yue on the lake who wants to learn artifact crafting. I saw that he was hardworking and eager to improve, so I let him take what he needed..."