The Song Dynasty was the king for thirteen years before he knew that he was Tianlong.

Chapter 352 The Shadow (Seeking Monthly Tickets)

Huh? The tribulation of inner demons was actually interrupted?

Was it... the work of the Illusionary Yin True Qi? Zhao Ti looked surprised.

The Illusory Yin True Qi actually has the ability to break through the illusion of inner demons?

But how could that be? It's just too unbelievable!

"Young master, you, you've finally woken up." A voice sounded from the side, pleasant but with a hint of urgency.

"A'Zhu?" Zhao Ti looked to his side. It was A'Zhu who had called out to him during his inner demon tribulation: "How long have I been in meditation?"

"Seven or eight days have passed since Huang Tianbiao and Lang Tian weakened into human form," A'Zhu said. "Some strange things have happened these past few days, so I had to wake the young master up."

"Seven or eight days have passed?" Zhao Ti pondered. "One day in a dream is seven days in the real world, that's interesting... What strange thing has happened?"

Azhu said, "Young master, two monsters have crawled out of the well these past few days and disappeared over to the cliff over there. Just now, another one was peeking out and peering over the edge of the well. We are afraid that there will be more and more monsters and we will not be able to resist them in the end, so we discussed waking you up so you can make a decision."

"A monster?" Zhao Ti asked. "What kind of monster? Have you fought it?"

Azhu shook her head and said, "Its shape resembles a human, but it has no face. Its black body is flat and thin, like a shadow or a piece of paper. It is extremely fast. Before we could even make a move, it had already run far away."

"It resembles a human without a face, with a black body, as thin as a shadow?" Zhao Ti frowned.

“Young master, that’s exactly it. It’s like a figure existing alone, but it makes a sound. It’s a sharp, bizarre laugh that can express emotions. It seems very excited after coming out of the well…” A’Zhu nodded.

Zhao Ti slowly turned around and looked at the distant mountain wall behind him: "Where did they all run to?"

“That’s where it is, the place where the young master indicated there was something there,” A’Zhu said.

Zhao Ti said, "I sensed something alive in that spot earlier, and the monk noticed it too. Since the things that crawled out of the well have gathered there, the thing hidden there is most likely one of these shadowy monsters."

"I'm afraid so," A'Zhu said. "They were too fast. After they ran far away, we remembered your instructions and didn't chase after them. But our worries only grew, so we..."

"It's alright." Zhao Ti waved his hand and looked at the well. At this time, the misty white vapor had faded, reduced by about 80% compared to the initial concentration, but it was still much denser than outside.

"Continue cultivating." He pondered for a moment. The monsters didn't attack people when they appeared, but instead ran away and hid, which must be because they had some reservations. In that case, while there weren't many monsters, cultivation should be the priority. After all, such an opportunity was rare.

Upon hearing this, everyone agreed and continued their breathing exercises. Zhao Ti focused his mind and looked inward, discovering that the Illusory Yin True Qi had somehow entered the White Tiger Blade of the fourth level of the Twelve-Story Tower and was close to the top, seemingly poised to break through to the fifth level, the Fire Separation Realm, at any moment.

What is the origin of this true energy? Is it martial arts or Taoist magic? Was it truly created by the so-called ancient immortal?

Zhao Ti sensed that it wasn't that simple. This true energy had always been incredibly powerful, and it had actually managed to pull him out of the Heart Demon Tribulation Realm without damaging his body. It was simply unimaginable.

As he recalled every detail of this technique and all the words of his grandmother, Gao Taotao, he became increasingly confused.

Since this technique is so powerful, have the people of the Mountain and Sea Temple actually practiced it?

What is certain now is that Xiaoyaozi did not know this technique, which means that when Xiaoyaozi fled Shanhaiguan in his childhood, he did not carry or memorize this technique.

Since these are the three major martial arts techniques of the Mountain and Sea Temple, why didn't Xiaoyaozi take them with him?

Even if time is tight and it's inconvenient to carry it with you, you can still memorize it, right?
Xiaoyaozi is exceptionally talented and likely possesses a photographic memory; memorizing several secret manuals shouldn't be a problem for him.

Unless this martial art actually has major drawbacks, making it a losing proposition to practice it.

Or perhaps it was an incomplete martial arts technique, so flawed that Xiaoyaozi abandoned it, carrying with him some complete martial arts techniques at the time.

Given Xiaoyaozi's age at that time, he certainly wouldn't have considered anything about deducing or supplementing his cultivation techniques. He memorized the complete Wulianghai Treasure Record and the Mountain Character Scripture, but abandoned the Illusionary Yin Scripture and instead memorized other complete martial arts.

There's nothing wrong with doing this, because the Illusionary Yin Scripture Mountain and Sea View only has six levels, and it's incomplete. Moreover, practicing just these six levels might be incredibly difficult and arduous, with each step feeling like walking on a precipice.

The reason I feel relaxed is because I haven't hit any bottlenecks in my martial arts training. If someone else were to practice, who knows what would happen, not to mention the possibility of deduction.

As for her grandmother, Gao Taotao, she should have possessed this skill. Her injury back then was most likely caused by Kunlun. Kunlun would not target anyone other than the emperor. So it must have been an assassination attempt on Emperor Yingzong. Her grandmother was injured because she tried to stop him. She then used the Illusionary Yin Scripture to suppress it for so many years. If it weren't for the Illusionary Yin Scripture, she probably would have died long ago.

Kunlun's martial arts are incredibly profound, and they possess both mechanical devices and magical arts. Although the spiritual energy of heaven and earth was scarce at that time, almost nonexistent, since they were able to receive the decree of Biyou Palace, it was not impossible for them to pay some special price and use some minor magical arts.

Grandmother Gao Taotao lived for many years, but in the end she still did not fully comprehend the seventh level of the Illusionary Yin Scripture; otherwise, she might not have died.

The hand seal she was making when she passed away was actually correct, but unfortunately, the cultivation method was not fully deduced, and she remained at the sixth level, failing to advance to the seventh level.

Zhao Ti was filled with doubts. The Illusionary Yin Scripture was not simple; it might have a significant origin. He even wondered if what he was practicing was the same as what others had practiced before.

Or to put it another way, it's because I practiced it correctly while others practiced it incorrectly, which is why my Illusory Yin True Qi has all sorts of unique effects.

His thoughts raced, considering many possibilities, but he couldn't be certain in the end. Finally, he sighed softly, glanced at the well, and continued practicing his skills.

Several hours passed in the blink of an eye, and suddenly Zhao Ti opened his eyes and looked ahead.

At this moment, Protector Zhou Tong spoke up, saying, "Young Master, that thing has come up again."

Zhao Ti had already noticed that a thin, black object was stealthily protruding from inside the well.

This thing is semi-circular in shape, as thin as paper, and slowly extends upwards, finally revealing an oval head, followed by a neck and body.

Zhao Ti examined it closely and saw that although the creature was human-shaped, it was completely black, without any facial features, and its body was covered in ink, making it just like a shadow.

However, it is different from a shadow. A shadow moves with a person and has no independent consciousness, but this thing in front of me clearly has independent thinking and can act on its own. It must be a monster-like creature.

Zhou Tong shouted, and everyone opened their eyes. Knowing that there was a monster, they simply absorbed the spiritual energy without cultivating at the same time.

Seeing that Zhao Ti had not given any orders, the group remained silent and waited to see what would happen.

The shadowy figure was sneaky and furtive. It peeked out halfway before stopping and facing forward. Although it had no face, the group of people inexplicably felt that it was observing them.

Zhao Ti remained expressionless, but was inwardly astonished. What kind of monster was this? Not only had he never seen one before, but it was also completely different from the demons and ghosts he knew, not the kind of spirits or monsters in the traditional sense.

Seeing that the others didn't make any move, the dark figure tilted its head, slowly climbed out of the well, and then let out a mocking laugh before standing with its hands on its hips above the well.

Zhao Ti narrowed his eyes, then suddenly raised his finger and pointed, a stream of illusory Yin energy shooting straight at the black shadow.

His Illusionary Yin Scripture had already reached the fourth level of the twelfth level, and there were faint signs of breaking through to the fifth level. This finger strike was becoming increasingly ethereal and silent, as if it came from the void, without a trace, without beginning or end. The black shadow immediately jumped up, the mocking laughter turning into a scream, his body moving with incredible speed, and in the blink of an eye, he was already three zhang away.

So fast? Zhao Ti's pupils contracted slightly. The other party didn't seem to have a real body at all. It was like a ray of light or a cluster of dark clouds, as if it had moved away without any weight.

However, his finger strike was so subtle and unpredictable that even if the opponent was fast, he still managed to hit a spot on the shadowy figure because he had the initiative.

However, the target location was slightly off. After all, the speed of the shadowy figure was too amazing. Zhao Ti originally intended to strike the chest, but instead struck the elbow instead, almost missing his target.

Then the dark figure let out another scream, like the cry of a night owl, and darted toward the distant cliff.

The crowd had sharp eyes and noticed that a piece was missing from the shadowy figure's elbow, clearly pierced by a gust of wind.

"The missing piece has fallen to the ground," Kumārajīva exclaimed.

The group looked down at the ground and saw a dark patch, about the size of a thumbnail, spread out on the ground a few feet away.

"I'll go see what this thing is," Huang Tianbiao said, looking like a little old man, and walked forward.

Wolf Tianruo also said, "Your Majesty, let me take a look too."

Zhao Ti nodded, and the two of them went ahead first. Then he led Kumārajīva and the other two toward the dark area.

Huang Tianbiao approached and looked at it: "Why does it look like a piece of soot from the bottom of a pot? Could that shadow be a spirit of a stove or pot?"

Wolf Heaven said, "If a stove or pot were to become a spirit, it should be round and plump. How could it be as thin as a human figure?"

Huang Tianbiao squatted down: "But it doesn't look like flesh or anything like that. What is it then?"

As he reached for it, Zhao Ti frowned and said from behind, "Be careful!"

Before he could finish speaking, before Huang Tianbiao's fingers even touched the black object on the ground, the object suddenly began to wriggle, then sprang up and enveloped his fingertips.

"Ah?" Huang Tianbiao was shocked. He quickly activated his magic power, and his entire arm flashed with yellow light. However, the fingertips remained black and did not fall off. Instead, the blackness began to spread upwards, and in the blink of an eye, half of his fingers turned black.

"This thing is alive!" Huang Tianbiao shouted. "It seems, it seems there's more than one..."

Just then, a gust of wind suddenly struck, severing his finger and sending it to the ground.

Zhao Ti suddenly made his move, then said in a deep voice, "Everyone, step back!"

At this moment, Huang Tianbiao's finger that had landed had turned completely black and was moving slowly in a wave-like motion.

"Young master, this thing, this thing..." Huang Tianbiao had already used his magic to stop the bleeding, and stammered with lingering fear, "It seems..."

As everyone looked over, they saw the black, granular fingers on the ground wriggling up, their dense, indistinct appearance causing a sense of dizziness and nausea.

"Is it... is it a Gu worm?" Zhou Tong asked in surprise.

"It looks like an insect or something. Could it be that the entire shadowy figure is made of insects?" Kumārajīva wondered.

Zhao Ti stared intently at the ground and slowly said, "They seem to be thread-like living things, rather short and thin, clustered together, somewhat like insects..."

"Your Majesty, may I try using my magic?" Wolf Heaven asked.

Zhao Ti nodded: "Don't get too close."

Lang Tianruo found the right distance, and with his hand shaped like a claw, he reached out to grab the dark finger. Five streams of magical power instantly landed on it, and the finger was immediately cut into five pieces.

At this moment, you can see that there are no bones, blood, or meridians inside this finger. Instead, it is full of filamentous and granular objects that move slightly like tiny insects.

Lang Tianruo's eyes widened in disbelief: "This, this..."

In just a few breaths, the five fingers suddenly wriggled together, then abruptly joined together, reverting to the shape of fingers. They then arched slightly and began to crawl on the ground.

Kumārajīva said, "Benefactor Zhao, this humble monk will also give it a try!" With that, he used a spell that resembled golden feathers, like a barrage of arrows, to shatter the fingers on the ground into countless small pieces.

But in a short time, these small fragments came back together and returned to being a finger, only slightly thinner than before.

"We still managed to kill some of them." Kumārajīva breathed a sigh of relief: "It's good that we were able to kill them; I was afraid we wouldn't have been able to kill them at all."

“This is just a small piece that fell from the shadowy body; it can’t be completely destroyed…” Zhao Ti shook his head with a solemn expression: “What’s the use of killing that little bit?”

Upon hearing this, Kumārajīva was taken aback, his thick brows furrowing as he clasped his hands together and said, "What you say is true, benefactor. I couldn't even destroy it with a single strike using fifty percent of my power. If it were that dark figure..."

"Young master, why don't we try it with fire?" A'Zhu said.

Zhao Ti glanced at the wellhead. At this moment, the spiritual energy was becoming increasingly thin. The original hazy white had become extremely faint, and the white aura could not be seen unless one looked closely.

He said calmly, "This thing is strange, and its spiritual energy has weakened. We should leave this place first, and preserve the fire for now, in case of emergency."

Wolf Tianruo said from the side, "Your Majesty is wise. I think this thing is using a trick. It first shows weakness to catch us off guard, and then gradually increases in number before attacking all at once, trying to wipe us out in one fell swoop."

"A feigned retreat to lure you in?" Zhao Ti nodded. "That's possible. Let's go now."

Several people agreed, but after taking only a few steps, Zhou Tong, who had fallen behind, suddenly said, "Young master, another monster has climbed up."

Zhao Ti said, "Let's go quickly, don't worry about it."

The group used their lightness skills to head towards the temple gate. Just as they reached the gate, they heard a series of sharp, strange laughs coming from behind them.

Everyone turned around and saw that dozens of dark figures had climbed up the well.

Kumārajīva exclaimed in surprise, "It really is a tactic of feigning weakness. Seeing us leave, they actually climbed up so many in an instant."

Zhao Ti said, "Go through the temple and return to the cave as quickly as possible."

Upon hearing this, everyone rushed into the temple. Behind them, a black shadow moved with lightning speed, giving chase, while more and more people continued to climb out of the well...

(End of this chapter)