The night was as dark as ink, and the small courtyard of Tanlong Alley was completely silent.
There were no lights in the house, only the moonlight filtered through the window lattice, shining palely on Eight Immortals Table.
There is a coarse porcelain bowl on the table, which contains the Earth-Lung Fire Fungus plant that was cut out from the Origin Mountain cliff.
After this thing was separated from the soil, the heat became even higher. The golden lines on the umbrella cover were like living blood vessels, bulging and shrinking in the darkness, exuding a smell of sulfur mixed with a strange fragrance.
Qin Geng sat cross-legged on the Arhat bed with his upper body bare, holding a silver needle in his hand, and gently picked at the root of the fire sesame.
"Zila."
There was a soft sound, like a drop of water falling into boiling oil.
The tip of the silver needle instantly turned black, and then was burned red by the high temperature.
"What a powerful fire poison."
Qin Geng squinted his eyes and ran his fingertips across the [Physician] page of "Book of a Hundred Trades".
The tenth level Physician talent [Herb Recognition] made him well aware of the medicinal properties of this thing.
This is not only a tonic, but also a poison.
If ordinary people dare to swallow it directly, they will swallow carbon into their abdomen, and their intestines will be pierced and rotted in an instant.
But for Qin Geng who practices Dragon-Tiger True Intent, this fire poison is the best "sandpaper" for tempering the bone marrow.
"Wealth is found in danger."
Qin Geng didn't hesitate any longer. With his fingers like knives, he cut off the essence about the size of a copper coin in the center of the canopy of fire sesame. He threw it into his mouth and swallowed it without daring to chew it.
"Boom!"
As soon as the thing entered the throat, it was like swallowing a grenade with a ring.
A stream of scorching air exploded along the esophagus, rushed into the stomach pouch instantly, and then turned into countless fiery snakes, burrowing crazily into the limbs and bones along the meridians.
It hurts.
Heartbreaking pain.
Qin Geng's face instantly turned the color of pig liver, the veins on his forehead popped out like earthworms, and the sweat beads evaporated into white mist as soon as they emerged from the high temperature on the body surface.
"Dragon-Tiger Convergence, lock!"
Qin Geng gritted his teeth and let out a low growl from his throat.
The spine in his body shook violently, and the meaning of "sick tiger" that he had just understood played a big role at this moment.
He did not fight against the heat, but tried his best to relax his skin and lock the Essence, Qi, and Spirit in his bones deep in his bones.
The heat couldn't find an outlet, so it could only burrow into the bones.
"Come on——Come on—"
In the silent room, a series of dense skeletal explosions sounded.
That's the fire poison eroding the impurities in the bone marrow, burning the bones that were originally as hard as iron, making them denser and purer.
Qin Geng feels like he has been thrown into the Bagua furnace of Supreme Lord Lao.
Every inch of bone is being reorganized, and every muscle is being torn and regenerated.
This inhuman torture lasted for a full hour.
It wasn't until the moon reached the zenith that the burning heat on Qin Geng's body slowly dissipated.
He slowly opened his eyes and exhaled a breath.
When he breathed out, it turned out to be a gray-black smoke arrow, which hit the opposite wallpaper, burning a small black hole.
Qin Geng looked down at his palms.
The skin became more delicate, with a sheen like cold jade, but with just a little force, the air under the palm seemed to be crushed by the terrifying force.
In my mind, "Book of a Hundred Trades" flipped.
[Martial Artist experience value +500]
[Level improvement: Martial Artist (Thirty-two)]
Qin Geng stood up and moved his hands and feet a little.
There is no sense of loss of control after a sudden increase in strength. Instead, I feel that my body is lighter than ever before, as if the bones in my body are a few ounces lighter, but the hardness has been upgraded to a higher level.
"Thirty-two--"
Qin Geng clenched his fist, feeling the force between his fingers that could crush pig iron.
Early the next morning, Ye Residence.
The martial arts arena was empty. Only Ye Lanzen was sitting on Grandmaster Chair, playing with two walnuts. The walnuts
The quilt was shiny and shiny, like agate.
Qin Geng stood in front of the old man and bowed respectfully.
Ye Lanzen didn't even raise his eyelids, his nose twitched. "My whole body smells like fire. Did you eat that fire sesame?"
"Yes."
Qin Geng nodded.
"Humph."
Ye Lanzen snorted coldly, but there was no trace of anger at all, "It means that you can resist this. If someone else had done it, it would have been burned to ashes. But since you can withstand it, it is your good fortune."
The old man stopped the walnuts in his hand and pointed to a desk next to him.
Rice paper is spread on the table, and pens and ink are laid out.
"Go and draw two strokes."
Qin Geng was stunned. "Master, what are you drawing?"
"Drawing a tiger."
Ye Lanzen opened his eyes, a glimmer of light flashed in his somewhat cloudy old eyes, "Since you are at that old Daoist priest Chi Song
After seeing the painting of Wu Daozi and understanding Concealing the Edge, I have to draw it."
"When martial arts reaches Transforming Force and up, what you practice is no longer meat, but Essence, Qi, and Spirit."
"When you used to practice boxing, you were splitting wooden stakes, and you were practicing hard strength. Later, you were asked to break the chains, and you were practicing your strength. Now you are asked to draw, and you are practicing your mental strength."
"Whenever you can draw the dragon and tiger on this paper to make people feel scared at first glance, then you will only have one foot in the Embracing the Elixir threshold."
Qin Geng is thoughtful.
He walked to the desk and picked up the brush.
This pole is so light that it is incredibly light compared to the knives used to kill people and the fists used to hit people.
But holding Qin Geng in my hand, it feels as heavy as a stone.
He closed his eyes, and the charm of "Tiger Descending the Mountain Painting" appeared in his mind, and he recalled the "locking" energy when the fire poison attacked his heart last night.
The pen tip fell.
There are no splashes of ink that open and close, only extremely slow and stagnant lines.
With every stroke, Qin Geng pours all his strength into the pen tip, controlling the limp hair.
After a while, I put away my pen.
A cat appeared on the paper.
In other words, it is a big cat that is drawn crookedly and looks a bit like a tiger.
"Tsk."
Ye Lanzen glanced at it with a look of disgust on his face, "It's hard to draw a tiger's skin but its bones. What is this thing you're drawing? A sick cat?"
Qin Geng put down the pen with some embarrassment.
"Okay, every time you come out of the Underground River from now on, don't be in a hurry to rest. Come to me first to draw a picture and raise the Essence, Qi, and Spirit after killing it."
Ye Lanzen waved his hand, closed his eyes again and said, "Go ahead, don't miss the time. Chi Song Although the old Daoist priest is wordy, he is indeed a capable master, so follow him closely."
"Disciple understands."
Qin Geng Looking at the poor painting, a sense of enlightenment arose in his heart.
Painting is indeed more difficult than killing.
Killing requires only a moment of outburst, but painting requires controlling the violence at all times and turning it into charm on the paper.
This is a longer practice.
At three o'clock in the morning, there are reeds.
In front of the familiar entrance to the whirlpool, everyone from the Underground River Department gathered again.
After three days of training, everyone's mental outlook is completely different.
Tiger Cub changed into a special leather armor, carrying the Mountain-Driving Whip on his back, and there were several bulging leather bags hanging on his waist, which obviously contained a lot of supplies.
This guy obviously ate Soul-Calming Pill. He is in much better spirits than last time and his eyes are much clearer.
Xia Jingyi's long knife has been sharpened again, and the scabbard is wrapped with a layer of waterproof mackerel skin.
The Mo School Mechanism Box behind the Zhao Yuanji seems to have been modified, with several more nozzles, making it look more sophisticated.
Daoist priest Chi Song still looks calm and calm, but the Black-Gauze Lantern in his hand has been replaced with a new one. The skeleton is some kind of unknown animal bone, and the veil is thinner.
Chi Song Daoist priest glanced at everyone, and finally stayed on Qin Geng for a moment longer, and nodded slightly.
After not seeing each other for three days, he found that the aura on Qin Geng's body had changed.
If we say three days ago, Qin Geng was like an unsheathed sword, with its sharp edge so sharp that no one dared to look directly at it.
Now, Qin Geng is like a piece of warm jade, or a bottomless pool of water.
The heart-stopping murderous aura was gone, replaced by something thick and deep.
"Concealing the Edge----"
Chi Song Daoist priest secretly praised in his heart, this boy's understanding is simply terrifying.
"Everyone is here?"
"It's all ready."
"Then get off."
Chi Song Daoist priest didn't talk nonsense. He raised the lantern in his hand and Water-Evasion Formula started again.
The huge whirlpool appeared again, and everyone jumped into it with ease.
After passing through that dizzying passage, when we came down to earth again, we were already in the familiar Ghost Gate cave.
Only this time, everyone did not stop at the bombed stronghold.
The place was in ruins and exuded an unpleasant rotten smell.
"Go through."
Chi Song Daoist priest pointed to the dark water behind the stronghold. "The real road is behind."
After crossing the ruins, the river in front became obviously narrower, and the rock wall above the head was getting lower and lower, which made people feel suffocated.
The speed of the water flow has also slowed down. It is no longer the kind of running water, but a kind of thick, lifeless black water.
"Attention."
Chi Song Daoist priest's voice echoed in the empty river, "The road ahead has no air holes."
"In other words, we have to stay in the water the whole time and swim to the next air hole node."
"Zhao Yuanji, Cao Xiaoliu, you guys who are water-based, follow me closely."
After saying that, the lantern in Daoist Master Chi Song's hand glowed brightly, and the circle of Water-Evasion light mask that originally protected only him suddenly spread outwards, covering Zhao Yuanji, Jingkong monk, and Miao Xiaolan.
This mask is like a huge bubble, draining away the surrounding black water, leaving room for the people inside to breathe.
Qin Geng Tiger Cub Xia Jingyi looked at each other and immediately fell into the water.
"Pfft."
The moment I entered the water, the world became quiet.
Qin Geng I felt that all the pores in my body were opening at this moment.
He is Water Lord, and this water is his home court.
The surrounding water flow was like a three-dimensional map, clearly reflected in his mind.
There is a reef ten feet ahead.
Twenty feet to the left, the water temperature is low and a cold spring flows in.
Behind the rock wall on the right, there is a weak flow of water, which seems to be connected to other tributaries.
Qin Geng is like a black swimming dragon, swimming freely in the water. It doesn't even need to breathe, because its skin can absorb oxygen from the water.
Tiger Cub already knows how to swim, and after practicing in the past few months, holding his breath for a long time is not a problem. At this time, he uses his hands and feet together, flopping behind like a big toad. Although the posture is ugly, the speed is not slow.
Xia Jingyi is a water expert born and raised in Tianjin. His body is nimble and his clothes are wet and cling to his body, like a mermaid, following closely behind Qin Geng.
The group of people walked in the dark waterway for about half an hour.
The water pressure here is so great that if an ordinary person came down, their eardrums would be crushed in an instant.
At this moment, Qin Geng, who was swimming at the front, suddenly stopped.
He gestured in the water.
Stop!
Xia Jingyi and Tiger Cub behind them immediately stopped and looked around cautiously.
Daoist priest Chi Song and others, who were protected by the Water-Evasion mask, also stopped. The light of the lantern reflected a strange green light in the water.
Something is coming.
Qin Geng's ears trembled slightly.
In Water Lord's perception, in the pitch-black water ahead, there was an extremely obscure water flow approaching very quickly.
There is no heartbeat.
There was no sound of breathing.
There was only the faint sound of water being cut open at extremely high speeds.
"He's a big guy."
Qin Geng thought in his heart.
The next second, a huge black shadow suddenly burst out from the mud below and rushed towards Zhao Yuanji inside the light mask.
This thing was so fast that it pulled out a white vacuum belt in the water.
"Be careful!"
Zhao Yuanji Although he couldn't hear the sound of water in the mask, he saw the black shadow and turned pale with fright. He subconsciously pulled the trigger of the repeating crossbow in his hand.
But there is someone faster than him.
Qin Geng kicked off his legs in the water, and his whole body was like an arrow leaving the string, the last shot arriving first.
He couldn't make a sound in the water, but his Transforming Force Grandmaster power burst out through the water.
"Collapse!"
There was a loud thunder-like sound from underwater.
Qin Geng's fist hit the side of the black figure hard.
It was a strange fish the size of a buffalo, or in other words, a lizard with fish scales.
Its body is pitch black, its scales are as hard as iron, it has a big mouth full of sharp teeth, and its four claws are as sharp as knives.
After being hit by Qin Geng's punch, the monster's body suddenly tilted in the water, and several scales the size of a washbasin flew out, and the black blood instantly dyed the surrounding waters red.
But the monster's vitality is extremely tenacious, and it survived the blow. Instead, it became ferocious, and its thick tail was like a steel whip, whipping towards Qin Geng with great force.
Qin Geng advances instead of retreating, with both hands forming claws. This is the W shape in Xingyi's fist, a technique specially used for underwater fighting.
He grabbed the monster's tail, and the dragon-tiger power suddenly exploded.
"Get up!"
Qin Geng exerted force on his waist and abdomen in the water, and he forcibly picked up the monster weighing several thousand kilograms and slammed it against the rock wall next to it.
"Boom!"
The rock wall trembled and gravel flew.
The monster was smashed to pieces, and its brains were almost shaken.
Before it could recover, Qin Geng was already riding on its back.
The right hand is like a knife, and the fingertips are vigorously swallowing.
"Pfft!"
The hand knife penetrated directly into the back of the monster's head, shattering its central nervous system.
The monster twitched violently several times and became completely motionless.
Qin Geng let go of his hand and let the huge corpse slowly sink to the bottom of the water.
Chi Song Daoist priest controlled the light mask to float over, took a look at the corpse through the light, and his face was a little solemn.
He pinched a Water-Evasion Formula to allow the sound to propagate in the water.
"This is Yin-Baleful Salamander."
The Daoist priest's voice sounded a little distorted in the water, with a buzzing echo, "This thing grew up eating dead human flesh and drinking Yin-Baleful Water. It usually only moves in that extremely yin place."
"The fact that it appears here means that we are not far from the core of Yin Mountain."
"We have entered the Yin Mountain realm."
Chi Song Daoist priest pointed to the deeper darkness ahead.
"The road ahead will be even more difficult."
"The Underground River water channels in Yin Mountain extend in all directions, like a spider web. In addition to this beast, there are also hidden sentries set up by Foreigners."
"Everyone cheer up."
As he spoke, Daoist priest Chi Song formed a hand seal with his hands and muttered something in his mouth.
A faint gray ripple rippled from his body and covered everyone.
"This is Breath-Concealment Art."
"It can cover up the living yang energy in us."
"Under the ground, we are just a few rocks. Don't let those with sharp noses smell it."
With this Breath-Concealment Art and the humanoid radar Qin Geng opening the way, the next trip went much smoother.
Although occasionally I could sense some strange water fluctuations in the distance, or see some lights similar to those of a submersible passing by, Qin Geng led everyone to avoid them skillfully.
We swam for about another hour.
Everyone's physical strength was almost exhausted, especially under the huge water pressure. Even with Water-Evasion Formula protecting them, their mental fatigue doubled.
"There's a cavity in the front."
Qin Geng swam back and pointed to a crack in the rock wall above his head.
"There is no water there, and although the air is thin, it is breathable."
"Go up and fix it."
Chi Song Daoist priest made a prompt decision.
A group of people climbed up along the crack.
"The sound of water breaking out sounded one after another.
Everyone climbed ashore and breathed in the musty air greedily.
This is indeed a natural cave with dry ground and rugged rocks around it.
Zhao Yuanji sat down on the ground, took off his goggles, and gasped. "My mother, the road underground is really not meant for people to walk on. It suffocates me to death."
Tiger Cub also shook the water from his body and sat down on a stone next to him. "Fifth Master is so awesome, he looks like a fish in the water. My skin and flesh are all soaked."
"Don't talk."
Xia Jingyi, who was observing the surroundings, suddenly shouted and pressed his hand on the handle of the knife.
"What's wrong?"
Everyone was instantly alert and picked up the guy one after another.
"There's something--something wrong with this place."
Xia Jingyi pointed to the ground under his feet. "Look at the stones on the ground."
Everyone looked down.
I saw that the floor of this cave was not naturally uneven, but was covered with a neat layer of Blue Brick.
Although it is old and covered with thick dust and moss, these are obviously traces of artificial construction.
"Has anyone been here?"
Zhao Yuanji took out the flashlight and shined it into the depths.
The beam of light pierced the darkness and illuminated the depths of the cave.
This photo made everyone's scalp numb.
"Hiss"
I saw square formations neatly arranged at the end of the cave.
That's people.
No, to be precise, they are pottery figurines.
There are a hundred and eighty pottery figurines, all of them as tall as True Person, wearing armor from the Former Dynasty or even older, holding long swords, standing there with expressionless faces.
Their bodies were covered with dust, and some were incomplete, but under the flashlight, the faces of the clay sculptures appeared extremely vivid, even a little - ferocious.
It felt as if they were not made of mud, but living people sealed in mud shells, watching the intruders coldly.
"This is---- Terracotta Warriors and Horses?"
Tiger Cub swallowed, his voice trembling.
"Not the terracotta warriors and horses."
Chi Song Daoist priest walked over, the lantern in his hand shone on the face of a pottery figurine, and said in a sinister tone, "This is Soul-Suppressing Terracotta Figure."
"It was made from a living person, filled with Mercury, wrapped in clay, and fired."
"This kind of thing is used to suppress places of great danger."
"And----"
Chi Song Daoist priest reached out and wiped a handful on the shoulder of the pottery figurine, revealing the colorful painting underneath.
"The paintings have not completely faded, indicating that these figurines were not fired for a long time. At most, it was only a few decades, or even shorter."
o
Decades?
Everyone's hearts were in their throats.
This is Yin Mountain deep, hundreds of meters deep underground.
Who would burn this thing here?
At this moment, Xia Jingyi suddenly let out an exclamation.
"Ah!"
The sound was sharp and harsh, echoing in the dead cave, frightening everyone.
"What's wrong?!"
Qin Geng's figure flashed and instantly appeared next to Xia Jingyi.
I saw Xia Jingyi standing in front of the pottery figurine in a corner, with a pale face and trembling fingers pointing at the face of the pottery figurine.
"That's----that's----"
Qin Geng looked along her fingers.
The pottery figurine was wearing a long robe and a mandarin jacket, a melon-pipe hat on his head, and he was holding a civilized stick in his hand.
But that's not the point.
The point is that face.
The face was painted in extremely detail, with the folds on the face, the mole at the corner of the mouth, and even the half-smiling expression all lifelike.
Qin Geng only glanced at it, and his pupils suddenly shrank to the size of a pinhead.
He knew this face.
It can even be said that no one in Tianjin does not know him.
That's the old man from the Su Family.
"Why is he here?"
"Made into pottery figurines?!"
A huge sense of absurdity and fear instantly enveloped everyone present.
"Back off!"
Qin Geng suddenly pulled Xia Jingyi away.
Because when he saw the pottery figurine that looked like Old Master Su, his eyelids seemed to move slightly.
There seemed to be something moving under the mud-sealed eyelids.
A subtle crisp sound came from the neck of the pottery figurine.
In this dead underground cave, the sound was even more harsh than thunder.