Mystic Subtle Manor Under the Grand Mystery Sect, Wedding-Garment Transmission Seeking Immortal Arts

"These pursuers weren't all on the same side."

Seeing the pursuers confronting one another, Heng Hua began making calculations.

He turned to look at the old man who had boarded the ship.

The man sat leaning against the mast, his breath weak.

Fu Xuanxing's face was full of grief as he stepped forward with pills to treat his injuries.

The old man shook his head. "Don't waste your effort. Keep those pills for yourself; don't squander them. You'll need them on the road ahead."

Heng Hua gripped his feather fan, frowning at the old man in indecision.

Trouble. This trouble was far too great.

Even Grandfather at his peak might not have been able to handle it, much less under the present circumstances. Should they call Seventeenth Uncle over?

Heng Hua could tell that the trouble Fu Xuanxing had stirred up was this old man.

And he was a Golden Core Cultivator. Clearly, his troubles were not something the two brothers could meddle in.

"Little Six, can you treat his injuries?"

Fu Xiangfeng walked over.

"This senior's Golden Core has shattered, and he is on the verge of losing all his cultivation. He can't be saved."

A Golden Core Cultivator?

Fu Xiangfeng's expression shifted slightly.

He had thought the man was a Mysterious Embryo Realm cultivator who had failed at Core Formation.

Hearing Fu Henghua's words, Fu Xuanxing looked stricken. Gritting his teeth, he directly fed the old man a pill to help him recover his qi.

"Cough, cough—"

He spat out two more mouthfuls of blood, vomiting up the pill along with them.

"Fine."

Seeing the youth's pained and troubled expression, Heng Hua thought, For the sake of this boy's pure and kind heart—and because he deliberately chose the northwestern route to avoid us—I'll help him once.

"Xiaoyu, bring me my gold needles—"

Suddenly, Xiaoyu handed the needle pouch over.

"..."

Heng Hua looked at her in confusion.

She had actually brought them along?

Xiaoyu did not answer. She fetched a basin of clean water from the side.

Having followed Fu Henghua for so many years, how could she not understand his temperament?

Seeing someone injured, could her young master truly remain hard-hearted as iron and stone?

"Thousand-Coiled Silk."

Threads of true qi wound around the old man's wrist. After taking his pulse, three golden needles flew up and pierced three hidden meridians and acupoints within his body.

The core qi running wild inside him immediately surged toward those three acupoints, and the old man's injuries ceased worsening.

After finishing all this, Heng Hua gripped his fan even tighter, his face exceedingly grim.

"Third Brother, we must not involve ourselves in this. The trouble surrounding this man is too great."

Heng Hua used the Qi-Gazing Art and saw endless black clouds above the old man's head. Bloodlight flashed, killing intent without end.

The calamity this senior brought was perilous. One careless step could overturn all of Coiling Dragon Island. Better to stay far away.

"Cough, cough..."

The old man spat out his last mouthful of bloody fluid, and his complexion improved somewhat. "This poor Daoist is Zhou Xiao, and this is my martial nephew, Fu Xuanxing. Many thanks to the two young friends for saving us."

"No need to thank us. My elder brother merely acted on impulse and brought you both aboard. Once the pursuers retreat, the two of you should hurry and flee for your lives."

"Little Six—"

Fu Xiangfeng glared at Fu Henghua, his face full of disapproval.

"Brother Fu and this senior are not bad people. I may not possess your discerning eye, but I can still see that they bear no Killing Intent, and their dharma power and true essence are incomparably pure. They are clearly fellow cultivators of the mystic path. Those three cultivators from before, however, carried Black Baleful Intent and demonic qi. They were certainly no good people."

"The Mysterious Subtle Sect is indeed an orthodox mystic sect and a direct branch of Taixuan. But what right do you and I have to interfere in trouble that even a Golden Core elder cannot withstand?"

Zhou Xiao's expression changed slightly. "You know this old man?"

"Fu Xuanxing's clothing does not reveal his origins. But the Two Forms Huntian Robe on senior's body, along with the Flying Crane Ring Pendant at your waist, are clearly possessions of an elder of the Mysterious Subtle Sect. And when I took your pulse just now, that yin-yang dharma power could not be concealed."

In the past, when the Supreme Mystery Sect ascended as an entire sect, some disciples were scattered abroad and failed to return to the sect in time. The founder of the Mysterious Subtle Sect had been one of them. He opened up an immortal manor in the Golden Direction Water Region and passed down the Taixuan Dao Art.

Fu Xiangfeng fell silent.

He had also heard of the Mysterious Subtle Sect's reputation. It was a great sect with several Soul Formation Grandmasters, and legend claimed it even had secluded Tribulation Immortals within its gates. Even the Eastern Sea Sword Sect, neighboring the Dragonreach Waters, was somewhat inferior to the Mysterious Subtle Sect.

Trouble that the Mysterious Subtle Sect could not afford to provoke was not something the brothers could bear. If he were alone, he could still take the risk, but with Heng Hua and the others here...

Fu Xiangfeng enjoyed helping others, but he was not someone who failed to recognize when to advance or retreat.

In the end, he sighed and cupped his hands. "As my younger brother says, the immense trouble upon you two is beyond what we brothers can handle. Once Little Six has treated senior's injuries, please leave."

Fu Xuanxing returned the salute. "Brother Fu, rest assured. We will never drag your party into this. Once Martial Uncle recovers a little, we will leave at once."

Looking at Zhou Xiao's injuries, the youth's face was filled with worry.

Never mind treating his wounds—his martial uncle's true essence was running backward, and his meridians were nearly all broken.

Zhou Xiao shook his head. "There is no need to treat me. Give the two of us a quiet room. Later, you two young brothers need only escort my martial nephew away and leave this old man's corpse on some reef island ahead. Once those pursuers see the body, it should delay them for a while."

Treatment? He knew his own condition. His Golden Core had shattered, and there was no turning the heavens around. Before his cultivation dispersed, he should pass as much of it as possible to Xuanxing.

"Senior intends to use the Wedding-Garment Art?"

Heng Hua suddenly became interested.

"Can you pass on your cultivation?"

"What? Are you interested in this spell that harms oneself to benefit another?"

As its name implied, the Wedding-Garment Art made wedding garments for another. While increasing another person's cultivation, it permanently consumed one's own dharma power and even lifespan. It was mostly used by cultivators nearing the end of their lives upon disciples, descendants, or juniors.

"The Wedding-Garment Art requires cultivation to be passed between members of the same sect or clan. Even if senior taught me the Mysterious Subtle Sect's Wedding-Garment Method, I would have no way to practice it."

The Fu Family had its own Bloodline Wedding-Garment Art. Through bloodline ties, an elder could pass his cultivation to descendants before death. This generation-by-generation inheritance was one reason cultivation families endured for so long and produced experts in every generation.

Fu Danwei had once said that before he died, he would pass his natal core essence to all his descendants, including Fu Henghua and Fu Xiangfeng.

"The Wedding-Garment Art is a secret forbidden art within sects and Lineages. Only transmission elders and Dharma Performers within a sect may practice it. Senior, are you a transmission elder of the Mysterious Subtle Sect charged with managing its scriptures?"

"That's right."

Enduring the agonizing pain in his meridians, Zhou Xiao forced out a smile. "Young friend wishes to ask this old man for cultivation arts? After boarding the ship, this old man observed you two, as well as these two servants of yours. Every one of you has a solid Dao Foundation. I fear you have no need to seek cultivation methods from me."

Especially these two brothers. Although the elder brother cultivated a Mystic Grade Dao Art, it was exceptionally fine. Its cultivation speed nearly rivaled his own sect's marvelous immortal formula. As for the younger brother, Zhou Xiao could not see through the origins of his cultivation art at all. Yet he could tell that he was merely a child who had not even reached Foundation Establishment.

Heng Hua remained silent in thought, slowly waving his feather fan. Separation Flame mixed with strands of Demon-Subduing Righteous Qi drifted around him.

A transmission elder was a Dharma Performer within a sect. He surely knew more cultivation arts than Heng Hua did. If possible, perhaps he could help Grandfather deduce a Soul-Formation Method.

But the trouble Senior Zhou Xiao carried was far too great.

Even standing beside him, Heng Hua could barely suppress the fear and unease in his heart as he felt strands of demonic qi luring him.

This senior appeared to cultivate upright, orthodox mystic arts, yet a Demonic Beast was hidden upon him!

That was why Fu Henghua dared not let go of the Mysterious Fire Vermilion-Plume Fan. He feared that Demonic Beast would stir his inner demons and awaken his demonic nature.

Come to think of it, Third Brother and Xiaoyu did not sense it? Or was it because they had not studied demonic arts and could not hear that summons from the "Heavenly Demon"?

After letting his thoughts run wild for a long while, Heng Hua still could not decide.

Fu Xiangfeng, however, came to his senses. "Senior, you are a transmission elder of the Mysterious Subtle Sect. Can you help deduce a Soul-Formation Method?"

Deduce a cultivation art for Grandfather!

"I can. But you must tell me that person's condition, and it would be best if I could see him in person. Otherwise, the cultivation arts I possess vary in attribute, and I fear your elder may not be able to use them."

Seeing the brothers' attitudes, Zhou Xiao made a guess. These two brothers were dressed like members of a cultivation family. And Soul Formation secret methods were scarce in Yanlong, so they must be seeking a Soul-Formation Method for an old ancestor of their family?

Zhou Xiao joked, "Surely your old ancestor does not cultivate a water art, only for me to give you a fire method?"

"Then..." Fu Xiangfeng was about to speak when Fu Henghua directly cut him off. "Meeting in person is absolutely impossible!"

"Senior is entangled in calamity and disaster. We absolutely cannot bring you back to our home."

What a joke. Did he not know Fu Danwei's temperament? Grandfather had spent his whole life acting chivalrously and generously. If he happened to hit it off with this senior, he might very well risk his life to help him.

At that point, Coiling Dragon Island would be unable to bear it at all.

"I can only tell you that Grandfather's cultivation path combines wind and fire. In his youth, he was also skilled in sword arts. It is simply that he has not wielded a sword for many years."

Sword arts, a wind-fire combination, and the surname Fu?

"Your family's old ancestor couldn't be... cough, cough..."

Zhou Xiao's vision darkened. The core qi within him erupted into turmoil again, and he directly fainted.

"Martial Uncle!" Fu Xuanxing hurried forward, preparing to circulate his cultivation to help him.

Thousand-Coiled Silk gave a light shake and swept Fu Xuanxing aside.

"Fu Xuanxing, stand aside. Your little bit of Two Forms True Essence cannot possibly help treat your martial uncle's injuries."

Walking over, Fu Henghua applied gold needles to Zhou Xiao's forehead and used Creation True Qi to gradually awaken his vitality.

As its name suggested, Creation True Qi was born of heaven and earth's creation and excelled at healing wounds and restoring qi.

Yet applying needles while resisting that demonic qi was truly difficult for Heng Hua.

He forcefully suppressed the urge to throw the Demonic Beast on the old man's body overboard. Using the Mysterious Fire Vermilion-Plume Fan to suppress his inner demons, he focused on treating him.

After the time it took an incense stick to burn, the old man slowly awoke.

Seeing the seven gold needles on his body, he understood. "The Seven-Star Essence-Sealing Qi-Recovery Method?"

"Correct."

Rarely encountering a senior Dharma Performer, Heng Hua smiled.

Since leaving home, this was the first person who could recognize his technique.

"Your true qi resembles that of our Mysterious Subtle Sect somewhat. Yin and yang return as one. Very good."

True qi? Shouldn't it be true essence?

Fu Xiangfeng was slightly startled. Little Six's Foundation Establishment was nearly complete; his true qi had long since been refined into true essence dharma power. Could it be that this senior's mind had not recovered and he had misspoken?

Heng Hua's expression changed slightly. Just as he was about to change the subject, the old man suddenly seized his arm.

"You two are surnamed Fu. What is Fu Danwei to you?"

"He is our ancestor."

"Third Brother!"

Unable to stop Fu Xiangfeng, Heng Hua felt a flash of annoyance.

Could you just casually reveal our family name? You could at least have used Seventeenth Uncle's name!

"Coiling Dragon Island... You are seeking a Soul-Formation Method for Fu the Dragon Sword Immortal?"

Fu Xiangfeng said, "Senior comes from the Mystic Subtle Immortal Manor and is a distinguished transmission elder. Even you cannot manage it?"

Seeing the disappointment on his face, Zhou Xiao did not know what to feel.

If this old man had that kind of ability, he would not still be a Golden Core Cultivator.

He gave a bitter smile. "This old man has heard of Fu the Dragon Sword Immortal even in the Golden Direction Water Region. He is a hero who entered the Golden Ranking three times, one whose core formed at the first rank and who has hope of immortal achievement. The Soul-Formation Method he requires must be Earth-Grade Immortal-Tier. Only an Earth Canon Immortal Art can dissolve a First-Rank Golden Core and refine an infant of pure innocence."

Heng Hua's heart sank.

He did not believe that his few decades of experience could compare to Zhou Xiao's several centuries of cultivation. If even he thought there was no hope...

"Of course, this old man cannot deduce one because after Golden Core, I no longer studied the cultivation arts of other sects. I focused entirely on deducing my sect's Two Forms Dao Art. Thus, I know little about the Fufeng Immortal Palace's inheritance. But if you members of the Fu Family use yourselves as the standard to help him deduce it, the chances of success will be higher than with this old man, an outsider."

After thinking for a moment, Zhou Xiao asked, "You are grandsons of Fu the Dragon Sword Immortal. Among your generation, there should be one called Fu Henghua, correct?"