Golden Crow Body Tempering Art.
As the words came into view, Xu Qingxiao instantly understood that this was the forbidden art he had been looking for.
However, this was a transcribed edition, written in the script of Great Wei.
Suppressing his excitement, Xu Qingxiao slowly opened the booklet and began reading carefully.
"Contemplate the sun in the mind, transform the spirit into a Golden Crow, temper the body with the Golden Crow's supreme yang qi."
The obscure opening left Xu Qingxiao somewhat puzzled, but fortunately, what followed was a little more plainly written.
Xu Qingxiao read with rapt interest. The entire forbidden art ran to fewer than a thousand characters, yet it seemed to open a door to a new world for him.
From the memories in his mind, Xu Qingxiao knew that the world he inhabited had immortals, demons, buddhas, mystical arts, and martial arts.
The two main systems, however, were the Martial Dao and the Immortal Dao.
The Martial Dao cultivated the body, while the Immortal Dao cultivated the spirit. Both had ten ranks, from ten to one.
Cultivating the physique required steady, solid progress, strengthening the blood and nurturing the body.
Cultivating the Primordial Spirit demanded even greater stability. After all, problems with the body could be treated with medicinal pills, but if something went wrong with the Primordial Spirit, even an immortal could do nothing.
Though this forbidden art was called the Golden Crow Body Tempering Art, it seemed like an ordinary method of tempering the body.
Only after finishing it did Xu Qingxiao fully understand why forbidden arts were strictly banned throughout the world.
The Golden Crow Body Tempering Art: contemplate the sun in the mind, transform the spirit into a Golden Crow, condense qi into supreme yang, and temper the flesh.
In other words, visualize the sun in his mind, imagine himself as a Golden Crow, and condense the qi of heaven and earth into supreme yang qi to temper his body.
Just one round of tempering could transform the body and strengthen its blood and qi.
What did that mean?
Normal cultivation of the Martial Dao required strengthening the body, diligently practicing martial arts, and supplementing them with various medicines to improve the physique and blood and qi little by little.
More importantly, it depended on the cultivation method.
Was the method a superior one? If it was, things were manageable. If not, cultivation became even harder.
The Golden Crow Body Tempering Art required no cultivation method, no steady groundwork, no heavenly treasures or miraculous medicines. A single round of body tempering could strengthen the physique and increase blood and qi.
It was practically cheating.
Each session of cultivation brought another improvement, saving years or even more than a decade of painstaking cultivation at a time.
But despite its many benefits, what truly made Xu Qingxiao gape was the final passage.
[Practicing this art remakes the body with each tempering, strengthening the physique and condensing blood essence until the Great Sun Sacred Body is forged. However, each session draws yang qi into the body. In lesser cases, the flesh spontaneously combusts, causing death; in worse cases, Golden Crow killing intent arises, reducing the practitioner to a demon.]
This was what truly left Xu Qingxiao speechless.
This forbidden art could directly forge the Great Sun Sacred Body and condense golden yang blood and qi, but every session risked setting him ablaze, or even giving rise to Golden Crow killing intent and turning him into a demon.
It was a double-edged sword.
And with a fifty-fifty chance every time, death was practically guaranteed.
Who would dare try it under normal circumstances?
Only someone already doomed to die.
As it happened, Xu Qingxiao was precisely such a person.
Taking a deep breath, Xu Qingxiao stopped letting his thoughts wander. He gathered his focus and fixed his gaze on the forbidden art.
The final page contained a visualization diagram.
The Three-Legged Golden Crow Sun Diagram.
Xu Qingxiao committed the visualization diagram firmly to memory, then closed his eyes.
Contemplate the sun in the mind.
Transform the spirit into a Golden Crow.
Condense qi into supreme yang.
As Xu Qingxiao visualized it, a golden sun appeared in his mind.
At that very moment, strands of faint golden light enveloped Xu Qingxiao. The cold qi instantly condensed into water, soaking his clothes.
This was what made forbidden arts so terrifying.
They required neither talent nor any other qualifications. Anyone who practiced them could succeed, human or demon alike.
As Xu Qingxiao continued his visualization.
The sun in his mind instantly transformed into a Golden Crow, which spread its wings and soared as though breaking free of a cocoon.
Pff.
At that moment, Xu Qingxiao's body bathed in golden light, shining like a miniature sun.
His blood and qi circulated rapidly, driving the cold qi out of his body in an instant.
As the cold qi left him, the entire Document Archive became like an ice cellar.
Streams of supreme yang qi formed within him, and his physique and meridians began transforming.
Crack, crack, crack.
Crisp cracks rang out as golden light flickered over Xu Qingxiao. His body tempering had reached its crucial moment.
It felt as though a flame had sprung to life in his abdomen before roaming throughout his body. A terrible burning sensation struck, bringing Xu Qingxiao excruciating pain.
But with life and death hanging in the balance, Xu Qingxiao did not cry out. Instead, he gritted his teeth and endured.
Traces of black filth seeped out through his pores, only to be instantly burned into black smoke by the golden light.
"Pff."
Fifteen minutes later.
Xu Qingxiao spat out a mouthful of black blood.
The blood was thick and pitch-black, containing the cold poison and impurities from his body.
The instant Xu Qingxiao spat it out, an unprecedented sense of pleasure swept over him.
His meridians flowed freely, his blood and qi surged, his muscles and bones grew supple and resilient, and his spirits soared. More importantly, he felt as though he possessed boundless strength, and a protective membrane formed within his body.
"I've entered the ranks!"
Xu Qingxiao instantly understood what had happened.
He had entered the ranks.
Martial artists had ten ranks, and entering the ranks meant stepping into the Tenth Rank.
The tenth rank was called "Body Nurturing."
It meant nourishing the flesh. For an ordinary person to enter the ranks, they had to practice martial arts from childhood, nurture their blood and qi, strengthen their physique, and supplement this with medicinal herbs, allowing the essence of their blood and qi to condense into a protective membrane.
With this membrane, ordinary blades and spears could cut the surface of the skin but could not penetrate deeper. It was like wearing golden-thread armor, making the body impervious to blades and spears.
Physical capabilities also increased severalfold. Strength, speed, and reflexes all improved, making it easy to fight ten opponents at once.
Thus, this membrane was the hallmark of entering the ranks.
This was not even an ordinary breakthrough. He had achieved everything in one step, forming the membrane throughout his body. Those who had just entered the ranks could usually only form it around their abdomen to protect vital organs, yet one session of this forbidden art had spread it across his entire body.
In one leap, he had reached near-completion of the tenth rank.
Wasn't this forbidden art far too incredible?
But before Xu Qingxiao could rejoice, a divine Golden Crow appeared in his mind.
The Golden Crow was drenched in blood, its gaze fierce and terrifying, filled with murderous intent.
"Not good. Golden Crow killing intent."
Xu Qingxiao knew what this was. Golden Crow killing intent could shatter a person's mind and reduce them to a demon that knew only slaughter.
Damn it.
Golden Crow killing intent formed on my very first attempt? Could I really be this unlucky?
Xu Qingxiao was genuinely dismayed.
His very first attempt at practicing a forbidden art had produced Golden Crow killing intent. There was simply no way to stop such a thing.
Before, he had been doomed to die.
Now, he was still doomed to die.
"No wonder both the orthodox sects and the dynasties ban forbidden arts so vehemently. The chances of becoming a demon are too high. And even without that, they're terrifying. One session lets you enter the ranks, saving ten, twenty, or even several decades of painstaking cultivation."
"Who could resist that?"
Xu Qingxiao felt somewhat hopeless, but he finally understood why forbidden arts were strictly banned.
They could let an ordinary martial artist enter the ranks in half an hour, saving more than a decade of painstaking cultivation, even setting aside the risk of becoming a demon.
Even if someone lucked out and escaped that fate, after practicing normally for a while, they would still be unable to resist returning to forbidden arts.
It was like gambling.
A month's wages earned through grueling work could be doubled or lost at a gambling table in fewer than ten breaths.
It overturned a person's values.
And forbidden arts overturned their understanding of cultivation.
What distressed Xu Qingxiao, however, was that Golden Crow killing intent had formed on his very first attempt.
Wasn't this giving me far too much credit?
I could have accepted being burned alive by true fire, but using Golden Crow killing intent against me? Wasn't that using a sledgehammer to crack a nut?
Still, on reflection, it made sense. The weaker the cultivation, the weaker the will, and naturally, the greater the risk.
Perhaps this was his tribulation.
Fuck.
After cursing inwardly, Xu Qingxiao gave up completely. Unless an immortal appeared now, he was certain to die.
The Golden Crow killing intent was indeed terrifying. The blood-drenched Golden Crow spread its wings and flew, its powerful mental force taking direct control of Xu Qingxiao.
An inexplicable urge to kill arose. Xu Qingxiao's breathing quickened, and his brain felt as though it were engorged with blood.
His blood boiled.
Agitation, unease, rage-all manner of negative emotions flooded in at once.
But just as Xu Qingxiao was about to become a demon.
Suddenly.
A thunderous roar exploded in his mind.
An enormous palace appeared within his mind. Grand and majestic, it was surrounded by stars, its radiance soaring into the heavens, like the Primordial Divine Palace.
The palace was bluish-gray, and ancient voices echoed from within.
The voices rang out with resounding strength.
"As heaven moves with vigor, the noble man strives ceaselessly to strengthen himself."
"A sword's keen edge is forged through grinding; the plum blossom's fragrance comes from bitter cold."
"When the brush falls, wind and rain tremble; when the poem is complete, ghosts and gods weep."
"Without climbing lofty mountains, one cannot know heaven's height; without approaching deep ravines, one cannot know earth's depth."
"Use bronze as a mirror to straighten your robes and cap; use history as a mirror to understand rise and decline."
Resonant voices rang out one after another.
These were all Sacred Words of the Confucian Dao.
They brimmed with Righteous Haoran Qi.
The tremendous Righteous Haoran Qi suppressed and slew the blood-drenched Golden Crow almost instantly.
The terrifying killing intent vanished, and all the negative emotions receded with it.
Inside the Document Archive.
Xu Qingxiao felt as though he had taken a trip through the gates of death.
He was drenched, sweat pouring down his forehead.
Though he did not know exactly what had happened, Xu Qingxiao could roughly guess.
The Golden Crow killing intent was gone.
The palace that had appeared out of nowhere had suppressed and destroyed it.
"Is this my cheat?"
"Can it ward off killing intent?"
"Or can it cancel out the side effects of forbidden arts?"
Xu Qingxiao's mind raced.
He was neither foolish nor stupid. He instantly realized that this palace might be his cheat. Its effect was either to suppress sinister killing intent like this or to cancel out the side effects brought on by forbidden arts.
If it was the former, it could prove useful at a critical moment.
But if it was the latter, then it was simply... a godlike ability.
Xu Qingxiao had now experienced the terror of forbidden arts firsthand.
They were far too uncanny, like a demonic box. There was no telling whether they would bring fortune or disaster, yet they could stir the greed in a person's heart.
If he could cancel out the side effects of forbidden arts.
Then he would be practically invincible.
The forbidden arts that others feared like venomous snakes and savage beasts would become a hundred times more precious than divine scriptures in his hands.
Just as Xu Qingxiao was pondering this.
Several panicked cries rang out.
"The fugitive's attacking! Hurry to the magistrate's office and call for help!"
"Don't kill me! Don't kill me!"
Bang.
The next instant, a figure smashed straight through the Document Archive's doors.
It was the constable who had been guarding the entrance earlier.
And a familiar figure appeared before Xu Qingxiao.
The fugitive from Southern Yu Prefecture.
Before you continue