Hell Emperor.

Chapter 263: Shura Jie - Dark Spirit Divine Art
The Temple of the Underworld.

Ye Jie sat upright on a huge cattail mat, which gave off a lingering green fragrance that not only made people feel relaxed and happy, but also improved their comprehension of martial arts.

A purple butterfly rested peacefully on his shoulder, dancing from time to time according to his wishes, outlining a glittering glow around it.

In front of Ye Jie, a graceful woman stood with her hands behind her back. The cold Shura mask covered her face, making it impossible to see her true spirit. However, just from her cold eyes, one could still feel her harshness and inhumanity.

"Listen carefully. Next, I will teach you how to practice the Nether Spirit Divine Art. This method is the palace-guarding method of the Nether Spirit Palace. It was created by the fourth-generation ancestor of the Xuannv Sect, Ming Ji. It is of the highest grade of the Heavenly Rank. If ordinary people do not understand the secret, I am afraid that they will never be able to learn it in their lifetime..."

Ren Changhong spoke in a cold voice. Youdie loved Ye Jie so much and didn't want to leave him for a moment, so she had to change the candidate for this competition to Ye Jie.

Ye Jie was a little embarrassed and said, "The problem is that I am just an ordinary person. With my talent, it is very difficult for me to practice ordinary exercises. How can I practice this Mingling Divine Art? Why don't you give me the exercise manual and let me figure it out myself, so as not to waste your time."

With Ye Jie's talent, it is not an easy task to practice the Dark Spirit Divine Art. It is much more convenient to modify the file directly using the six-sided stitching pages, so he said this.

Ren Changhong didn't know the reason, and thought Ye Jie was frightened by his past power, so he snorted coldly:
"What are you afraid of? Isn't it enough for me to teach you? What's the use of relying on the classics? The records in the classics are only the most superficial and introductory parts. If you want to practice this kind of skills, you need to be carefully taught by a master. Do you think you can learn it just by reading the classics? Then what is the need for a master?"

Ye Jie coughed dryly and had no choice but to follow her words: "Okay, I'll listen to you..."

Seeing that Ye Jie said no more, Ren Changhong finally calmed down and explained the contents of the Dark Spirit Divine Art carefully: "The Dark Spirit Divine Art is not a simple practice. When practicing, you must not focus on the flow of spiritual power in your body, but carefully feel the state of the transformed soul..."

After listening to Ren Changhong's explanation, Ye Jie was surprised to find that he completely understood the contents of the exercises. Those extremely obscure ways of practicing the exercises in the past were no longer blocked. They were completely absorbed by his mind and turned into knowledge that belonged to him.

"I can comprehend the Heaven-level Kung Fu? How could it be..."

Ye Jie's astonished expression naturally could not escape Ren Changhong's observation, which also made her roll her eyes: "Just understand it, what's so strange about it? With my careful explanation, even if you are dull, you can understand it."

The corner of Ye Jie's mouth twitched, his intuition told him that the reason he could comprehend the Nether Spirit Divine Art was definitely not the reason Ren Changhong said.

Is it because of the mat you sit on? The special spices sprayed on the mat can help people get rid of distracting thoughts, calm down, and invisibly enhance their understanding of the exercises.

However, the spices on the cattail mat alone could not make a dull person become a martial arts genius. There must be other reasons.

After some thought, Ye Jie soon found the answer.

Not long ago, Ye Jie obtained the Bodhi Heart Dharma in the Xuepo Shura's cave, and used six-sided sewing pages to modify the Bodhi Heart Dharma to the Daoshi stage.

The Bodhi Heart Method was the guardian method of the Bodhi Temple in the past. Its grade was equal to the Nether Spirit Divine Art. Its most important function was to help practitioners improve their understanding. Even if one was dull in aptitude, one could undergo a complete transformation with the help of the Bodhi Heart Method.

The higher the level of Bodhicitta Dharma, the greater the improvement in one's understanding. To reach the initial stage of Bodhicitta Dharma, even a venerable in the Bodhi Hall needs hundreds of years of hard practice.

Now, Ye Jie finally understood why the obscure Heaven-level skills sounded as simple to him as teaching a child enlightenment knowledge. It turned out that it was all thanks to the help of the Bodhi Heart Method. In addition, the experience of transforming into a ghost magic weapon many times also provided Ye Jie with extraordinary insights.

"Can I continue?" Ren Changhong crossed his arms and said impatiently.

Ye Jie nodded repeatedly. His aptitude for understanding was no worse than those famous geniuses. He could no longer suppress the joy on his face: "Of course, tell me now."

"Tsk, don't be complacent just because of your momentary understanding. The difficult parts of the Nether Spirit Divine Art are all in the back. You are so happy now, be careful not to get nothing in the end and cry out loud. A second-level Shura like you may never be able to touch the top-level skills like the Nether Spirit Divine Art in your lifetime, and you still want to seize this opportunity!"

Ren Changhong's eyes turned cold and he mercilessly rebuked Ye Jie for his laxity.

Ye Jie didn't take it seriously and asked curiously, "Were you also so strict when you taught your disciples before?"

"Of course. Cultivation is like sailing against the current. If you don't advance, you will retreat. Don't take it lightly." Ren Changhong snorted. "You still remember my disciple? I advise you to give up this idea. With her personality, she would never fall in love with you even if she became a ghost."

Ye Jie's mouth twitched: "Is there anyone who curses his own disciple like this?"

"Are you ready to listen to the Nether Spirit Divine Decree?" Ren Changhong's face darkened and he felt a chill all over his body. Ye Jie had no choice but to pretend to beg for mercy so that the teaching could continue.

"…The way to practice the Dark Spirit Divine Art is very complicated. It takes thousands of attempts before you can memorize it. When I say memorize, I don't mean to let your brain remember it, but to let your body, your meridians remember it. Only when you can circulate the meridians spontaneously and maintain the spiritual power, can you be considered to have mastered this method."

After a while, Ren Changhong finally finished explaining the secrets of the Nether Spirit Divine Art. He felt a little dry in the mouth, so he said to Ye Jie: "Now try to circulate your spiritual power according to the method I taught you. Humph, with your qualifications, I would not be surprised even if you fail thousands of times. I want to see how many times you make those simple mistakes!"

"Do you really think so?" Ye Jie was not in a hurry to practice his skills, but touched his chin.

"Don't talk nonsense. If I ask you to practice your energy, just do it honestly!" Ye Jie's question was met with Ren Changhong's ruthless ridicule.

As the saying goes, even a clay man has a temper. After being looked down upon by Ren Changhong repeatedly, no matter how well-mannered Ye Jie was, he couldn't hold it back any longer. He narrowed his eyes slightly and planned to show Ren Changhong his skills.

As Ye Jie slowly practiced his skills, a thin stream of spiritual power also continued to flow through his body along a certain special trajectory.

"Very good... The first difficulty in practicing is to use too much force when starting, so that the spiritual power will collide with the meridians. I didn't expect you to make this mistake. Although the spiritual power in your body is thin, your control over the spiritual power is beyond my expectations. I thought that with your dull talent, you would fail here at least dozens of times..."

Ren Changhong's instructions, or perhaps sarcasm, came to Ye Jie's ears, but his expression was calm, without the slightest fluctuation in his heart. All his attention was focused on the circulation of the Qi in his body.

Feeling the spiritual power flowing in Ye Jie's body, Ren Changhong's expression also changed little by little. At first, she was still thinking of watching a joke, and planned to ridicule Ye Jie when he failed. Gradually, Ye Jie's condition was beyond her expectations. He did not make any mistakes even after half of the Zhou Tian movement. It can be said to be quite perfect. Even a mean person like her could not find any faults.

"Wait... He has completed half of his Zhou Tian circulation, and there is no sign of exhaustion, slackness, or impatience. How did he do it? Is this really his first time to practice the Nether Spirit Divine Art? How can a second-level Shura have such control over spiritual power? Is it because of his innate magical powers? But that's impossible..."

The more Ren Changhong felt Ye Jie's current state, the more shocked she became. If she was not absolutely sure that Ye Jie did not know the Secret Art of the Dark Spirit at all, she would almost doubt whether Ye Jie had already practiced the Secret Art of the Dark Spirit to the stage of perfection.

What Ren Changhong didn't know was that her feeling was not wrong. Ye Jie had indeed practiced the Nether Spirit Divine Art to the stage of perfection, but it was not achieved through his own hard work, but rather through the effect of the Bodhi Heart Method.

Another ability of the Bodhi Heart Method is called Heart Like Bodhi, which makes all the skills of Ye Jie no lower than the third level of the Bodhi Heart Method. In other words, all the skills of Ye Jie are at least at the level of transformation.

As the circulation of the Qi was completed, Ye Jie slowly stopped practicing. As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw Ren Changhong who was in astonishment beside him.

"This... this is impossible. How on earth did you do it? You actually completed the circulation of the Nether Spirit Divine Art in your first attempt... This is simply unbelievable!"

"Is this difficult? As long as you don't rush or get impatient, it doesn't seem to be difficult at all."

Ye Jie scratched his head. He remembered that Xia Wei mastered the Nether Spirit Divine Art in just one go, so it shouldn't be difficult at all.

"Of course it's difficult! Back then, I tried for two hundred times before I could complete the circulation of the Qi in fits and starts. My disciple was better than me and only took a hundred times to complete the circulation, but you... you succeeded in just one try! Only a truly peerless genius can complete the circulation in one try. How did you do it?"

Ren Changhong's eyes widened in disbelief, his jaw dropping to the ground. Could it be that Ye Jie had been lying about his talent? Was he actually a hidden genius?

This thought only flashed through Ren Changhong's mind for a moment before she completely rejected it.

Ye Jie doesn't have any natural or supernatural powers. If he is considered a genius, then everyone in the world is probably a genius.

But how did Ye Jie do it? This question deeply puzzled her, and she was puzzled. Her heart seemed to be constantly scratched by a cat's claws, and she wanted to find the answer to the question.

In response, Ye Jie just coughed dryly. This time, the joke was too much. In his memory, Xia Wei completed the circulation of the Nether Spirit Divine Art so easily that he ignored the difficulty and almost got exposed. Xia Wei was the only one who could be called a peerless genius.

"Maybe this technique is particularly suitable for me... This is a good thing, right? Learning the Secret Art of the Nether Spirit also means that the Demon Palace has a greater chance of success in the next competition." Ye Jie laughed and tried to get away with it. No matter how Ren Changhong doubted him, he refused to admit it.

Ren Changhong looked Ye Jie up and down. No matter how he looked at him, he was extremely mediocre and did not look like a hidden talent at all. In the end, he had no choice but to change the subject:

"Well... maybe you are indeed superior in the Nether Spirit Divine Art. Now that you have learned the Circulation of the Heavenly Body, the next thing to do is to integrate the Transformed Soul into it."

At the end of his speech, Ren Changhong's eyes also fell on the purple butterfly on Ye Jie's shoulder: "Let the purple butterfly become your dark spirit magic weapon."

"Phantom Butterfly..."

Ye Jie slowly raised his hand and gently stroked the purple butterfly that was resting on his shoulder, without moving for a long time.

Before this, Ye Jie was always the one who transformed into a magical weapon in the Dark Spirit Divine Art, and he never thought that one day he would be able to perform the Dark Spirit Divine Art with his own hands.

"What are you still hesitating about? Hurry up and use the Dark Spirit Divine Art!" Seeing that Ye Jie had not made any move for a long time, Ren Changhong suddenly became anxious and urged him to practice faster.

Ye Jie turned a deaf ear to it. The Youdie sensed his mood and rested on the back of his raised right finger. The man and the butterfly slowly looked at each other.

"If what Ren Changhong said is true, if I can get the first hall master's account and hand it over to the Lord of the Demon Luo Hall, I can get the freedom I dream of and return to my family... If I want to seize the master's account, I must win the competition of the Nether Spirit Divine Battle. Youdie, this time it depends on you, please lend me a hand."

Ye Jie's lips moved slightly, and he sent an inaudible message to Youdie.

Hearing this, Youdie flew up and danced around Ye Jie. Youdie had recognized Ye Jie's aura early in the morning and was very close to him. Of course, she would not refuse Ye Jie's request. She was very human and had already made plans to cooperate with Ye Jie to perform the Nether Spirit Divine Art.

The ghost butterfly flew into Ye Jie's arms and hid deeply under his robe, as if using its actions to illustrate its determination to help him.

Feeling Youdie's kindness, Ye Jie finally put aside his hesitation and followed the method taught by Ren Changhong. He recalled in his mind how Xia Wei, Li Fei'e and others performed the Dark Spirit Divine Art. He slowly practiced his skills and uttered a low cry: "Dark Spirit Divine Art!"

As the technique was activated, the ghost butterfly turned into a series of light spots and dissipated, then continued to regroup next to Ye Jie. All kinds of miraculous changes were happening to her.

On the side, Ren Changhong had already opened his eyes wide, staring at everything happening in front of him without blinking.

Ren Changhong had personally witnessed the potential of Youdie. She could transform into a third-grade divine weapon: the Purple Lightning Blue Frost Sword, which was enough to show how special she was. But he didn't know how much of Youdie's potential would remain when the one who performed the Nether Spirit Divine Art was no longer her master Li Fei'e, but the extremely mediocre Shura Jie.

Ren Changhong was so anxious that he didn't even dare to breathe. The result of this Nether Spirit Divine Decisive Technique was directly related to the main account of the Nether Spirit Palace. He just hoped that there would be no accidents.

The light faded, and Ren Changhong could no longer suppress his astonishment when he saw the dark butterfly transformed into a magical weapon.

"That's... that's..."

(End of this chapter)