Ox-Cutting Technique Opens the Way

"Can you unravel the mystery?" Zhou Hen asked.

Wu Zhao shook his head and said, "I can solve the Three Paths Mountain mystery, but I know nothing about the No-Return Road and the Yellow Springs Gate."

Li Qingxian recalled various miscellaneous events recorded in "The Travels of a Fate Arts Master," which, although not detailed, contained similar accounts.

"Isn't there any other way?" Zhou Hen asked.

Wu Zhao glanced at Li Qingxian and said, "Currently, only Grand Fate Arts Master Complete Understanding 'The Unending Strange Land,' because many Fate Arts Master consider the Eerie Ground a form of fate. A few Upper Rank experts can pass through it, but they cannot unravel its secrets; they must force their way through, and everyone who does so will lose ten years of their lifespan."

Zhou Chunfeng said, "If we cannot find a way to solve this mystery within an hour, I will forcefully break down this door."

"Old Zhou, you..." Wu Zhao sighed and glanced at Li Qingxian.

"Daren Wu, what do you know about the Yellow Springs? Could you please explain in detail? I do have some rudimentary knowledge of Fate Arts, which might be able to help me unravel the mystery," Li Qingxian said.

"The Eerie Ground is formed after the death of Eerie Demon. Under normal circumstances, it will remain peaceful, but it can be activated by the power of other Eerie Demon. The Yellow Springs Strange Land originates from the power of Great Eerie Demon. As for who it is, we do not know, and can only refer to it as the Yellow Springs Emperor."

"You're going to call it that kind of monster directly?" Li Qingxian didn't dare to use the name.

Wu Zhao smiled wryly, "We can't speak carelessly before entering the Eerie Ground. Once we're inside, we're already under a spell, so it doesn't matter anymore. Take a look at your left wrists, and check your left wrist pulses."

Everyone looked down and saw a yellow cloud-like mark on their left wrist, about the size of a thumb.

They reached out to test the waters, and everyone's expression changed slightly.

There was no pulse in my left wrist, but my right wrist was normal, yet I felt no discomfort.

"Is there anything else?" Li Qingxian asked.

"The Yellow Springs Strange Land has its pros and cons. The advantage is that it can be easily resolved by uncovering three of the mysteries. The disadvantage is that if it cannot be resolved, twelve people will die. Many people would rather encounter Eerie Demon and fight to the death than face this kind of Eerie Ground. Think about it, what would have happened if only twelve people had been affected this time? This kind of Eerie Ground only has residual power and is easy to resolve. For example, Middle Rank Fate Arts Master can resolve the No-Return Road, and a few Middle Rank Fate Arts Master can resolve it. The problem is... I am not Fate Arts Master. I can only resolve the Three Paths Mountain mystery. As for the Yellow Springs Gate mystery, only Grand Fate Arts Master has ever resolved it..."

Wu Zhao rambled on and on, and Li Qingxian took notes of everything.

After Wu Zhao finished speaking, everyone fell silent.

Li Qingxian pondered to himself that since he was of the lowest rank, even with the protection of his Fate Pattern, his chances of dying were much higher than Zhou Chunfeng, Zhou Hen, and Wu Zhao, probably not much different from Jing Guan's.

The biggest problem is that the Eerie Demon have a thing for killing Fate Arts Master!

This almost negates the protection provided by the Fate Pattern.

Li Qingxian even suspected that the first Yellow Springs Boat might arrive right in front of him.

After much deliberation, Li Qingxian made up his mind.

We can't just sit here and wait to die!

Li Qingxian said, "The White Road is in the west, which should be in the Dui position. However, there is another force obscuring it, causing the hexagram position to change. I just tried, but my Eerie Ground power is too weak to deduce it. Daren Wu, can you deduce the true hexagram position of the No-Return Road?"

"I'll give it a try." Wu Zhao said, taking out the Bagua plate from his Luck Silver-Fish Pouch and slowly walking around to perform the calculations.

After a short while, Wu Zhao said, "It's in the Kun position, but it occasionally transforms into the Li position. That's how the power of the Eerie Ground works; if the trigram position is incorrect, it can even change completely."

"As for the Kun position..." Li Qingxian pondered for a moment and said, "It can be resolved! Since the Grand Fate Arts Master considers 'No-Return Road' as a kind of fate, it is most likely similar to 'trapped' in Fate Mold. I have a Fate Arts that can resolve the 'trapped' Fate Mold, but my magic power is insufficient, and I need to borrow Daren Wu's magic power."

"As long as you're willing to try using Fate Arts to unravel my mysteries, all my magical power is yours!" Wu Zhao was overjoyed.

The others also looked at Li Qingxian with excitement.

Zhou Hen asked, "You've just Fate Arts Master. What if you forcefully attempt to dispel a curse and suffer a backlash?"

Zhou Hen's expression was serious, and the scar across his nose looked even more ferocious.

"Being attacked is better than sitting and waiting to die," Li Qingxian said.

"Heroes emerge from among the young!" Wu Zhao said.

Li Qingxian lowered his head in thought, slowly deducing and recalling the verses and knowledge of Fate Arts.

Everyone stared at him nervously.

After a while, Li Qingxian looked up and asked, "Do you have any live cattle here?"

The prison captain said, "Living creatures are not allowed to enter or leave the West Courtyard of this Imperial Prison. There aren't even any live mosquitoes, let alone live cattle."

Wu Zhao asked thoughtfully, "Can a bull's eyes see yin and yang?"

Li Qingxian nodded and said, "There are many life-saving Fate Arts for overcoming difficulties, but the only Fate Arts I can use and that is suitable for those No-Return Road is the 'Ox-Cutting Technique'."

"So it really is this Fate Arts; beef won't work?" Wu Zhao asked.

"Of course not."

Wu Zhao thought for a moment and said, "We don't have any live cows here, but we do have live cow demons."

"Any cow will do! But I want to kill it myself," Li Qingxian said.

Wu Zhao said, "What does it matter how many bull demons we kill to save lives? I'll personally capture one now, but it's too big. I'll use magic to shrink it to the size of an ordinary yellow ox. Don't move, I'll bring the bull demon over."

"Wait, the Ox-Cutting Technique requires some Fate Material."

"The scribe should write this down," Jing Guan immediately ordered.

As Li Qingxian thought for a moment, he said, "Red rope and red cloth, or any kind will do if you don't have red. Seven bowls to hold the cow's blood, seven white candles, not red ones. A butcher's knife or a knife that has been used to kill people, a bowl of clean water, a bundle, a shovel for digging, a wooden plank, and preferably an empty memorial tablet used for sacrifices."

"Alright. Follow me." Wu Zhao took the paper and led the jailers away.

The crowd stood still, watching Wu Zhao enter a cell in the distance, where the jailers collected their Fate Material.

The prison captain looked puzzled and remained silent.

After a while, the subordinates brought the Fate Material, everything was complete, even an empty memorial tablet.

Before long, Wu Zhao led over a black ox with blue markings all over its body. It was about the same size as an ordinary ox, but its eyes were white and it walked slowly.

"Daren Zhou Hen, please help me carve the words 'Ox Tomb' on the empty memorial tablet."

Zhou Hen took the empty memorial tablet, his index finger like a steel knife, and carved the two characters "Ox Tomb". Li Qingxian took out his own knife and carved something on it.

"Brother jailers, dig a hole, just a foot deep enough to hold the cow's heart."

After they finished digging, Li Qingxian also dug a shovelful.

Li Qingxian, holding a cleaver, aimed at Black Bull's neck and glanced at Wu Zhao.

Wu Zhao nodded slightly.

"You guys get ready. First, collect seven bowls of cow's blood. Don't fill them completely, just enough to cover the bottom of the bowls. Collect them one bowl at a time, don't pour them back to each other. Then, stuff the red rope and red cloth into the severed end to stain it with cow's blood."

Li Qingxian took a deep breath, raised his cleaver high, channeled his magic power throughout his body, and slashed down fiercely.

Puff!

Blood splattered, the bull's head fell, and rolled several times.

The ox swayed and fell to the ground.

Several jailers rushed forward, holding bowls to collect the blood, and then stuffed red ropes and red cloths into the severed head of the cow to absorb the blood.

Li Qingxian wiped the bloodstains from his face, walked to the ox's tail, and swung his knife to cut off the tail.

Li Qingxian threw down his cleaver, holding the ox by its tail in his left hand, and said, "Daren Wu, please use your telekinetic magic to extract the ox's heart, and try not to damage other parts of the body."

"Simple."