Knife splashing

Chapter 621: Xiling Qianqiu Snow

"The window contains the eternal snow on the Western Hills, and the door is moored with ships from Dongwu that have traveled thousands of miles away."

This famous quatrain by Du Fu has been passed down through the ages, making Xiling Snow Mountain famous all over the world, but romance and reality are only separated by a thin layer of paper.

Wind, frost, rain and snow are always there. Do not be happy because of things, nor be sad because of yourself. Whether it is the cruelty of reality or the poetic expression, it all depends on your state of mind.

At least, Li Yan and others are not in the mood now.

The cold wind howled, carrying ice particles.

It blew towards me and hurt my face.

Li Yan stopped, shook off the snow on his sheepskin hat, and looked around.

But the snow all around was as thick as silver, and the breath turned into ice. There were cliffs thousands of feet high on three sides, and there was only one small path that meandered to the top of the mountain.

The top of the mountain in the distance seems to be covered with an iron-gray ice shell. The snow that never melts all year round has condensed into ice crystals and hung down.

Under the overcast sky, there was a faint blue light.

“This is Daxuetang.”

The woman from the Bai family who was leading the way turned around and introduced herself.

Many of these women pursued the art of poison, but did not have the qualifications to do so, which led to backlash and poisonous sores on their faces.

When they were in the ancient city of Dachang, they were very cautious. They all wore white clothes and covered their faces with white veils. They threatened that anyone who took off the veil would either be married or killed.

But now, they have all joined Shuiyue Temple and officially become nuns. They have settled down and seen through the pain of superficiality.

Just like this woman, she had already taken off her white clothes and put on a thick cotton-padded monk's robe. The poisonous sores on her face were displayed in front of everyone without any scruples, and her entire face was red from the cold.

She pointed forward and said, "The place we are going to is on the east side of Daxue, at a pass on Baishagang. The locals call it the Yin-Yang boundary."

"The Yin-Yang Realm?"

Sharifei frowned and said, "Didn't you say you were practicing in a paradise? Why does this name sound a bit off-putting?"

The woman laughed dumbly and shook her head, saying, "This 'yin and yang' does not refer to the underworld. It's just that one side is the snowy plateau, which is cold and dry, and the other side is the Shuzhong Basin, which is warm and humid."

"The two Qis meet at Baishagang, making the sky clear on one side and foggy on the other, just like the division of yin and yang."

"The changes in the earth's Qi have also been affected, making the cave like an icy hell, but it also contains a hint of vitality, which is just right for Senior Sister Long to retreat."

She spoke gently and smiled, but she looked into the distance from time to time, and the worry in her eyes could not be concealed.

Sharifei was used to observing people's expressions and immediately realized that something was wrong. He quickly asked, "But what happened? We are all family, there is no need to hide it."

The woman nodded, put away her smile, and said, "Madam and Senior Sister Long's plan was originally correct, but now something has gone wrong..."

Li Yan looked around and immediately understood, "Weather?"

"Ah."

The woman said in a deep voice, "It snowed heavily before the New Year. Madam was very happy and said that Senior Sister Long's method of restoring the life Gu is better the colder it is. Now we are safe and sound."

"But the climate is abnormal now. It's still cold even now. The four seasons are in chaos. I don't know if the poisonous insect can be bred."

Sharifei was a little anxious when he heard this, "What should I do?"

The woman remained silent, obviously not knowing what to do.

Li Yan looked into the distance and said, "Don't panic, go take a look first."

After that, he led everyone to move forward.

Due to continuous snowfall in Shu, the snow in Daxuetang has reached knee-deep, making it not only difficult to walk, but sometimes you can hear crackling sounds.

That's the ice crust beneath the snow.

The snow melts into a stream, and then expands after freezing, making the bottom hollow, hiding the deep ravines that would cause you to fall in if you are not careful.

Fortunately, Li Yan activated his magical powers and even though the area was covered in snow, he could still smell the soil below clearly and led everyone to avoid the danger zone.

After a long time, everyone finally arrived at the valley.

Standing there, I saw that the stone reception pavilion had been mostly collapsed by the snow, with long icicles hanging down from under the remaining half of the eaves.

Everything is bleak, as if all life has been frozen.

The group followed the path covered with ice and snow and climbed up the hill with difficulty. Suddenly, the view in front of them opened up and a wonderful scene appeared:
Looking west, the sky of Chu is vast, boundless and magnificent.

Looking east, there are dark clouds overhead and the mountains dance like silver snakes.

The entire sky was clearly divided, as if the gods were painting with the clouds.

Everyone stood there in a daze for a long time before the Bai family girl who led the way shook her head and said, "I've been here before. Although there are wonders in the Yin-Yang Realm, they are not as obvious as this. Most of them are caused by changes in the weather."

Li Yan looked around, "Where are the people?"

The Bai family woman pointed to the middle of the opposite cliff and said, "It's right next to the old pine tree halfway up the mountain. Because the road is difficult, there are not many people renting and building houses there. It's a good place to be quiet so we won't be disturbed by anyone."

When everyone looked, they saw that the cliff was covered with ice and snow, and only through a small depression could they barely make out that it was a cave.

Sharifei frowned, "He has not come out since he entered before the New Year?"

"rest assured."

The woman seemed to know what he was thinking and explained, "Madam said that to re-refine the life Gu, one must use the turtle breathing technique to fast, concentrate the mind and forget oneself, and breed vitality from nothingness."

"The mountain essence powder that Senior Sister Long brought is enough to last until the end of the month."

Li Yan was also a little confused. "A person was frozen in there. How did you judge that Miss Long was fine?"

The Bai family woman pointed at the old pine tree and said, "There is a hole on that tree that leads directly to the cave. Senior Sister Long has a firefly Gu. If you release it at night, you can see it clearly even from a distance."

"Every first and fifteenth day of the lunar month, we will come to check on her. Senior Sister Long will also wake up and send a message to let us know her safety at night."

"Tomorrow is the fifteenth day. If nothing unexpected happens, Senior Sister Long will notify me. It is estimated that it is time to break through the barrier."

"good idea."

Li Yan couldn't help but admire.

He became increasingly aware that magic did not necessarily require the pursuit of power, but rather the ability to make light of heavy tasks, and that saving lives was more important than killing people.

Thinking of this, he looked around and said, "Old Sha, the Taoist priest and I will go into the cave to practice. We will come out in two days. Let's go and avoid the wind and snow first."

This was a plan made in advance.

There is also a paradise on the Xiling Snow Mountain.

Sharifei awakened his magical power and with the help of the White-Robed Bodhisattva's bracelet, he was able to stabilize his mind enough to build the first floor and thus became a monk.

Wang Daoxuan and Lu San have both entered the third floor.

They don't have Li Yan's opportunity. If they want to build a four-story building, even with extraordinary talent, it will take until the end of this year.

However, Wang Daoxuan had another opportunity.

He obtained the "Five Divine Secrets" from Ming Shanzi of the Cheng family. It was passed down from the immortal "Chi Jiang Zi Yu" and was an ancient method of refining qi.

"Chi Jiang Zi Yu" is the source of their Xixuan lineage's magic, which completes their magical powers and there is no need to argue with the Shangqing Sect.

The wonderful thing about this "Five Magic Formulas" is that it can be used for other purposes.

When ordinary cultivators cast spells, they usually need to concentrate. Once they get distracted, the spell will fail at best, and backfire at worst. Therefore, the first step for a cultivator to get started is to enter a state of meditation and eliminate distracting thoughts.

After mastering the "Five Heads Divine Art", one can divide one's attention into two parts, as if one had an extra head. The higher one's level of Taoism, the more spells one can control at the same time.

From then on, whenever Wang Daoxuan performed rituals, he had the power to protect himself and could cast spells at the same time to block attackers.

But this is just a trick.

The real power of "Five Heads Divine Art" lies in the fact that it can be used to cultivate a kind of Daluo Dharma Realm magical power, called "Five Heads Divine Power".

This supernatural power is the method used by ancient Qi-refining practitioners.

On a daily basis, you can inhale and exhale the innate Gangsha Qi, store it in your chest and abdomen to warm it. If you encounter a strong enemy, you can spit it out to enhance your magic and make it more powerful.

It can be considered a life-saving trump card.

Of course, this magical power also has two limitations.

First, like Li Yan’s previous Soul-Catching Thunder Rope, it needs to consume the evil energy stored daily, and it needs to be inhaled and exhaled again after it is used up.

Although it will be successful in a few days, it will not keep up with the time and can only increase the stored Gangsha Qi after one has achieved high Taoist skills.

The other is that you need divine power.

After all, this is not the ancient times. In addition, for some other reasons, if one wants to cultivate the magical powers of the Dharma Realm, one cannot do without the divine power.

The reward that the Dragon Girl promised them, in addition to entering the Dragon Palace and the Water Palace to select treasures, was the divine power of Lord Jiangshen.

Unfortunately, Lord Jiangshen's spiritual charm was seized by the immortal Li Wenyuan, and in the end, only two of the divine powers were left when the dragon girl drew them out. Wang Daoxuan used these divine powers to cultivate his magical powers.

As for Lu San, he has a completely different path from their Taoist Xuanmen. He follows the way of Chu witches and has not yet obtained the opportunity for supernatural powers in the realm of Dharma.

After making a plan, everyone continued to move forward.

There is more than one cave for cultivation in this "Yin Yang Realm" area.

They had not walked far and rounded a ridge when they suddenly saw a crack-like valley in front of them. It was covered with thick snow and could not be found without careful observation.

"right here."

The woman from the Bai family led everyone into the valley.

But there were several caves carved out on the stone wall inside, which were several feet deep. Together with the shelter from the wind in the valley, it was a perfect place to live.

The Bai family woman said as she walked, "This is also a spiritual vein, but it is much worse than Senior Sister Long's, which is why Qingcheng is too lazy to send someone to manage it permanently."

"They mainly use the cave in Zhaogong Mountain. Occasionally, poor and destitute monks come here to build buildings..."

Everyone followed in and looked around.

As expected, these caves were very simple, without even doors. They were just some rocks placed on the ground and piled up to block the wind during retreat.

There were traces of burning inside, but no one had been here for a long time. Someone had piled up a lot of firewood deep in the cave, and it was covered with dust.

Everyone lit a bonfire and it immediately became much warmer.

They heated up the dry food, boiled some snow water in an iron pot, and after filling their stomachs, they began to prepare.

Sharifei is the most troublesome. It is his first time to build a foundation and he has no experience at all. Fortunately, he is also practicing "Xixuan Dongming Sutra".

Wang Daoxuan gave personal instructions and planned to wait one more night to help Sharifei protect the law, and then absorb the divine power after he succeeded.

As for Li Yan, with the help of Lu San, he blocked another cave with stones and went into seclusion.

The cracks were clogged with rocks, and snow and water mixed with mud filled the cracks. They soon froze hard and the inside was plunged into darkness.

Since it is not a building, the process is much simpler.

Li Yan lit eight lotus lamps and placed them according to the eight trigrams. Then he took out the Gou Die and the shrine of the Queen Mother of the West.

He picked up the certificate and looked at it, and there was only a divine force inside.

He had previously accepted the mission to capture Lang Wu. Although the other party was killed in the battle, he was not the one who did it. In addition, due to his status as a Heavenly Official, there was neither punishment nor reward.

In order to prevent the other party from falling into the underworld and being rescued by someone, Lu Sheng would rather not give any reward and beat the other party to death.

If Li Wenyuan was killed, he would receive a bolt of lightning.

This is more powerful than the Shengang. After being absorbed by the Soul-Catching Thunder Rope, it can generate thunder on its own.

Thinking of this, Li Yan's heart moved, and the soul-catching rope whizzed out, crackling with electric light.

Although traces of lightning ropes can be seen, its power is obviously much smaller than that of heavenly thunder, and is similar to a high-voltage electric baton.

When Li Yan saw this, he shook his head slightly.

The killing power of this thunder is not strong. Its greatest function is that it can accumulate thunder without absorbing the thunder from the sky.

In addition, it can also enhance the power of his Thunder Martial Arts and Dust-Breaking Sword. Combined with the Immortal Seal, his melee combat ability will be even more powerful.

Holding the certificate, Li Yan thought for a moment, then put it away.

It is not easy to obtain Shengang.

Even he has to accept the relevant tasks.

You can get a strong order to catch the criminal.

You can obtain the divine power by capturing the seventy-two demons and their evil spirits.

Complete the Tianguan mission and you will get Lei Gang.

After the battle at the Shu Palace, no mission has been received so far.

His magical power, the Soul-Hooking Thunder Rope, is more effective when it absorbs thunder energy. Absorbing this divine energy can only make the thunder rope grow a few meters at most.

It’s better to keep it as a backup.

After all, completing these tasks requires the help of companions. If you are greedy and want to take it all on your own, you will end up being alone.

He's not that kind of person either.

After putting away the certificate, Li Yan picked up the shrine of the Queen Mother of the West.

Wow~
The arm guard was filled with thousands of evil spirits, which dispersed all the incense that had accumulated on the shrine over the past two days.

This matter was a bit strange, perhaps it was related to the belief in the Queen Mother of the West, but Li Yan was too lazy to meddle in it and absorbed its spiritual charm as soon as possible.

Li Yan already has experience in absorbing cave stones.

After entering the spiritual space, he immediately looked up.

But I saw that Luofeng Mountain was towering into the clouds, and a storm was rising in the surrounding black soul sea. Dark clouds were surging in the sky, and thunders were connecting the sky and the earth.

Li Yan said nothing, and made hand gestures to pull in the air.

Soon, the thunder became more violent.

The dark clouds in the sky were pushed away by a huge monster.

Then, the mountain-like shrine slowly fell down, and the statue of the Queen Mother of the West above it came to life.

With a leopard tail, tiger teeth, disheveled hair and a crested crested bird crown, he looked like a terrifying and ferocious god, looking down at him from high above.

If an ordinary cultivator saw this, he would probably be terrified.

Li Yan, on the other hand, had a blank expression on his face. He concentrated his mind and kept pulling the shrine, using the power of the Daluo Dharma body to channel its spiritual charm into Luofeng Mountain.

On the pitch-black Luofeng Mountain, there were four-story shrines and a palace, and around them, eight small paths appeared, leading to eight directions.

The divine palace of the Eight Generals of the Inner Altar also began to take shape...

……

While Li Yan was practicing, it was already night outside.

In the cave opposite, Sharifei was shivering with cold. The densely packed lotus soul-guiding lamps all around him could not give him any warmth.

"You idiot, practicing is such a pain."

Sharifei complained but his hands didn't stop.

But he knew that his teammates had put in a lot of effort to allow him to practice.

He also often wears the precious Guanyin Bodhisattva bracelet.

He dared not let this friendship down.

And you won't miss this opportunity to change your destiny.

That’s right, change your destiny!
A first-level monk is just a low-level cultivator in the Xuanmen world.

But it was different for him.

By candlelight, Sharifei took out the book "Meishan Firearms Code" and opened a page.

"Meishan Firearms Collection" is a collection of ideas written down by many cultivators who communicated and comprehended the techniques in Meishan.

Many of them are far-fetched and difficult to realize, and Meishan only wrote them in out of courtesy.

For example, there is a narration from an Emei elder:

"Sword cultivators use Gengjin as their bones. I noticed that firearms also contain gold evil spirits, so I tried the "Light Splitting and Shadowing Secret". I forged the gun barrel with pig iron at noon, quenched it with cold spring water at midnight, and engraved the "shadow symbol" on the chamber and the "light splitting pattern" on the butt, but it didn't work..."

"The scarred pyrotechnician from Longquanyi has a magical power of 'instrument sense'. Occasionally he can succeed. The gunshots are like sword balls bursting out, and the nine turns are continuous."

"Unfortunately, there are very few people who are proficient in 'instrumental sense', so this method is difficult to succeed and difficult to popularize..."

Instrumental feel?

Sharifei scratched his head.

After he awakened his supernatural powers, he had a special sense for objects. Whether he was forging iron or using a musket, he could do it as easily as with his own arm.

He specifically asked about it, but others who have awakened their physical powers do not have this ability.

I don’t know if it’s the “instrumental feeling”…

(End of this chapter)