A Similar Direction
The ruins of Xianyang City.
Push aside the weeds, and a reddish-brown earthen slope comes into view.
To the average person, it is just an inconspicuous earthen mound.
However, in the Great Qin Dynasty, this place was called 'Futu'.
The origin of the name "Futu" is simple: the blood from the massacre was enough to make people float on it.
This is a land of blood, where cattle and sheep were once sacrificed, as were the kings and generals of fallen kingdoms. It was also the place where many scholars were buried alive, and where Emperor Qin burned books and buried scholars alive.
Normally, this is an ominous place.
However, after being improved by the sorcerers of the Great Qin, this place turned into a Sacred Land for sacrifices.
Anyone who uses special methods to sacrifice to cultivators can gain a false realm of cultivation by harming others for their own benefit.
For example, Wei Shao'er was just a step away from the Sole Self Realm, entered the Sole Self Realm in this way. After obtaining this false realm, he continued to hone his skills and eventually truly possessed the Sole Self Realm cultivation several years later.
"Festival!"
Liu Xuan, who was presiding over the sacrificial ceremony again, brandished his sword.
He wore a mask resembling a demon, and his sword was covered in oil.
Flames roared as he swung his sword, which repeatedly struck Huo Qubing, who was bound to the altar.
"Murder!"
When Huo Qubing was advancing in his cultivation, the Changxin Palace used methods such as guidance, sparring, and taking elixirs to repeatedly stimulate him with a combination of stimulation and tailor-made guidance, and Huo Qubing eventually reached the Divine Ability Realm.
However, when Zhang Xuezhou and others helped push it forward, there was no such procedure at all. Huo Qubing felt like a pig tied to an altar, waiting to be slaughtered.
Each time the flaming sword struck, Huo Qubing would cry out in alarm and turn his pleading gaze toward Wei Shao'er and the others, who were dozens of steps away.
"I'm still a child, you can't treat me like this! I'll never go to a gambling den again!"
Huo Qubing even once thought that Zhang Xuezhou had staged such a grand spectacle to help him quit gambling.
"My clothes are almost burned off, this doesn't seem like something that can improve your cultivation. You need to be practical, not resort to mysticism. He cut my flesh with his sword, I'm bleeding! Help!"
Huo Qubing called out repeatedly, but no one paid him any attention. Instead, they waited quietly for Liu Xuan to complete the sacrificial ceremony.
Wei Shao'er's face was ashen, glancing at Zhang Xuezhou every now and then before sweeping his gaze across the crowd around him.
Liu Xuan didn't hold such a grand ceremony for her sacrifice; he merely slaughtered a few pigs and bled them, then used a sword dance to pierce several places on her body, thus allowing Wei Shao'er to break through the Sole Self Realm amidst the pain.
At present, not only cattle and sheep are slaughtered here, but also captured prisoners from the Xiong State, and the sacrificial rites are of an extremely high standard.
If Wei Shao'er hadn't experienced Liu Xuan's sacrifice, she would have truly thought this was a place of evil cults, and that Huo Qubing had been used as a sacrificial offering.
"Uncle Dong, won't this cause any problems for my son later?"
Wei Shao'er couldn't help but feel a little uneasy. She nudged Zhang Xuezhou next to her and asked in a low voice.
"You know best whether your son will cause any trouble later. Don't blame everything on me," Zhang Xuezhou replied solemnly. "You yourself experienced the Liu Xuan sacrifice; you should know the answer very well!"
"I... I can't control my temper. I've hit the sick child quite a few times over the years," Wei Shao'er said. "The sick child is very likely to be easily angered and irritable in the future!"
"What you have is menopausal syndrome, it has nothing to do with the ritual!"
What is menopausal syndrome?
Zhang Xuezhou corrected Wei Shao'er's choice of words, Wei Shao'er suddenly felt that she was sick. She even thought that Zhang Xuezhou might have a way to cure her.
After asking a couple of questions, Zhang Xuezhou didn't bring up the matter again, and Wei Shao'er had no choice but to shut up.
"The Sole Self Realm requires the guidance of a Central Divine Ability. The sick child achieved a Minor Divine Ability through swordsmanship; where did he get the martial arts skills to propel him towards a Central Divine Ability?"
Wei Shao'er calmed down a bit, but the new emperor was also somewhat anxious.
Although the new emperor trusted Zhang Xuezhou and others, he was not entirely certain that Huo Qubing would succeed in breaking through to the Sole Self Realm." Even the Empress Dowager, who was sitting in the cloud sedan chair beside him, mentioned that she had not seen any signs of Huo Qubing breaking through to the next realm.
Without the guidance of Technique Method to enhance one's Qi and Blood, it is difficult to complete the transformation of one's cultivation.
The new emperor paced back and forth a few steps, then turned his gaze to Liu Xuan, who was holding a sword and performing a sacrificial ceremony.
He knew of Liu Xuan, but he never imagined that Liu Xuan was well-versed in the lost Great Qin Dynasty sacrificial arts.
If one does not disregard the potential harm of sacrificial rituals, this method can rapidly enhance one's power in a short period of time.
"Could it be that Liu Xuan can perform a ritual to cure the sick child?"
Despite having many doubts, the new emperor did not inquire about Zhang Xuezhou's situation.
Just as Zhang Xuezhou wouldn't ask about his motives, the new emperor wouldn't need to ask Zhang Xuezhou either.
As long as Huo Qubing isn't ruined, the new emperor thinks the plan is feasible.
Huo Qubing's good fortune lay in his irreplaceability, but so did his misfortune. While his opponent could afford the highest level of conditions in the Great Han Dynasty, everything he endured was beyond the capacity of ordinary people.
As Liu Xuan's flaming sword pierced through Huo Qubing's protective Qi and Blood, splashing blood onto the surrounding corpses, the new emperor could only turn his head away.
"Help! Godfather, he's stabbing me in the head with a sword! My head's been pierced! It hurts! Something's drilling into my head! I'm going to die!"
Only when Huo Qubing screamed for help did the new emperor touch Zhang Xuezhou.
"The stinging is unavoidable; that's what taking shortcuts is all about!"
Liu Xuan's sacrificial ritual drew in the souls of the dead, and he continuously wielded his sacrificial Law Artifact to shatter their spirits. He then cut wounds on Huo Qubing's body, thereby introducing fragments of their spirits into his own.
The underlying principle is very similar to injecting Heavenly God General Medicine, which also stimulated Huo Qubing's Divine Sense.
"Little Huo's cultivation is far too weak, so we have to use drastic measures. Wei Shao'er only had eight pigs burrowed into his head and didn't suffer as much!"
You've got eight pigs stuck in your head!
Zhang Xuezhou gestured, indicating that Huo Qubing, who was bound and restrained on the altar, was already losing control of his mind.
After a flurry of punches and kicks, tearing off the charred ropes binding him, he grabbed a longsword from beside the altar and slashed at Liu Xuan with it.
"Brother Lei, could you please take over for a moment?"
After only a few moves in the sword fight, Liu Xuan had already been stabbed by Huo Qubing, clearly demonstrating that his swordsmanship was inferior to his opponent's.
Zhang Xuezhou shouted, and Lei Bei his sword.
"Lei Bei skilled in Horizontal Sword Technique, and Wei Qing has also sparred and learned from Lei Bei. His swordsmanship is quite good," Zhang Xuezhou said.
"It's a pity he's a man of the King of Huainan, making it difficult for him to come and serve the court," the new emperor lamented.
"Lei Bei extremely skilled in swordsmanship, but he's addicted to gambling. This kind of personality will inevitably lead to trouble sooner or later. Your Majesty should leave him an option to leave Huainan!"
"Let me think about it!"
The new emperor nodded, indicating that he would carefully consider the terms of the Great Han Dynasty, both to prevent loopholes from being exploited and to leave Lei Bei a way out.
There's no need to deliberately set a trap for Lei Bei. Lei Bei's personality could also cause problems. He can't find a place to stay with the King of Huainan, so he can come to Chang'an City.
With Li Guang and Cheng Bushi fading from the court, the imperial palace desperately needs top-tier experts to join.
Very few cultivators can master the Horizontal Sword Technique. The new emperor quite likes such sword masters. These people are not suitable for leading troops in battle, but they are suitable for serving as commanders of the palace guards.
"I hope Little Huo won't get struck by Lei Bei and die."
Huo Qubing defeated Liu Xuan with several sword strikes, but he was no match for Lei Bei. After several sword strikes, he was gradually suppressed by Lei Bei.
After watching for a long time, Dong Zhongshu cautiously offered a reminder, and Zhang Xuezhou shook his head.
"As long as he's not killed in one hit, Little Huo won't die!"
Zhang Xuezhou reached out and touched it, taking out the Life-Creating Fortune Pill.
Besides the Life-Creating Fortune Pill he gave to the Empress Dowager to temporarily prolong her life, he had 118 more of these pills in his Lesser Heaven and Earth Bag, so Huo Qubing couldn't die even if he wanted to.
The terrifying regenerative power of the Life-Creating Fortune Pill provides ample opportunities for experimentation and allows for room for error, which will also help Huo Qubing integrate his own Technique Method through constant sparring and fighting in a frenzied state.
If combined with the Empress Dowager's guidance, Huo Qubing's path to the Sole Self Realm would be significantly reduced.
Whether Huo Qubing will ultimately succeed depends on his fusion and cultivation with the painting demon.