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Chapter 355 A Single Inch of Tendon (Three-in-One)

The black, eerie spikes, the swirling quicksand, and the strange insects that trapped the two mountain runners all went out of control the moment the corpses fell.

Only the three-headed demon was captured by the Six-Eyed Nethermoth.

It seems that the treacherous assassin had been waiting for this day for a long time.

Without any hesitation, it bit off the adult's arm, then rose into the air, swayed, and was about to disappear into the void...

But it didn't expect that Lord Xu was prepared for this.

The three hairpins killed the adult, and Pidan then surrounded it.

With a flash, the treacherous thorn broke free from Pidan, its form then hovering between reality and illusion.

It would occasionally appear and disappear around Xu Yuan.

They appeared quite arrogant and overbearing.

Xu Yuan sneered: "You had a chance to escape, yet you didn't run. You really are a brainless person."

A six-eyed moth flew over, and a ghostly soldier poked its head out, sucking out the man's soul with a single breath.

Given his status as an adult, it's impossible for him to possess anything like "thread-pulling techniques."

So Xu Yuan then learned all the strange weaknesses of the adult!

The Demon Assassin has the ability to "traverse the void".

But in reality, it's only at a fifth-rate level, so it's impossible for it to really travel anywhere at will; its abilities are limited to a range of five zhang (approximately 10 meters).

In other words, the furthest it can appear is five zhang away.

Gui Ci hadn't even reacted by then.

You can't blame it; its shape is a long, narrow, black bone spur.

Killing is its most basic instinct.

It really doesn't have a brain.

Pidan descended from the sky, expanding like a sack until it reached ten zhang in size, then swallowed the treacherous thorn whole.

The treacherous assassin then realized he couldn't escape.

It teleported, and Pidan moved with it.

Then Xu Yuan breathed a mouthful of fire into it.

The treacherous thorn will cause pain.

After burning for a while, the blackened Guici turned white from the heat.

It is, after all, a fifth-rate or sixth-rate fire. Although it can burn painfully, it is not so easy to truly refine it.

Xu Yuan didn't intend to refine it like that.

Pidan is not immune to the fire in his abdomen. Xu Yuan has to burn the treacherous thorns without burning his own Pidan. He relies entirely on the superb fire control techniques of the "Five Cauldrons Cooking" to keep going.

Outside of Pidan, the quicksand monster and the strange insects had already scattered.

Taking advantage of the opportunity while Guici was distracting Lord Xu, he disappeared without a trace.

Dafu chased after them for a while and ate more than a dozen strange insects, but these insects flew in different directions, and Dafu could not catch them all.

Now only the Devious Assassin remains.

Xu Yuan then calmly released the Tiger Head Guillotine and put Pi Dan away.

Suddenly, Guici realized that he was free again!

Then came a "snap" sound, and he was pressed under the guillotine...

Lord Xu controlled the situation perfectly, seamlessly switching between Pidan and the tiger-head guillotine.

The treacherous thorn currently has no master; it is a wild, malevolent spirit.

He should be beheaded with the tiger-head guillotine.

Xu Yuan pulled the guillotine down hard, and the treacherous spike was cleaved in two with a snap!
It can be said that this was the easiest evil spirit Xu Yuan ever beheaded with the Tiger Head Guillotine.

“Those who have no brains are easy to deal with,” Xu Yuan said, shaking his head as if he were showing off to Gui Ci, “Look, I have brains and you don’t.”

Xu Yuan then examined it and found that the Fiend had left behind a fine piece of material, a bone bead embedded in its body.

Xu Yuan packed it in a fishy-smelling bag.

Then he looked at the adult's corpse.

The ghost soldiers devoured his soul, and Xu Yuan then learned that the man's surname was Qi, his given name was Qi Yue, and he was the fourth son of the current head of the Qi family in Nandu.

He currently holds a sinecure at the fifth rank in Zhengzhou.

But he was heavily involved because he possessed a "ticket" issued by Lord Ruan Tian!
This ticket does not belong to him, but to a huge interest group including the Qi family.

Qi Yue was the one in this group who did the dirty work.

Although he wasn't well-liked, he was indeed very important.

Xu Yuan retrieved the ticket from Qi Yue.

This thing is a blood-red bone plate with a unique symbol on it.

This symbol directly corresponds to Ruan Tianye.

No other being, not even the Dragon King of the Canal, can encroach upon this symbol.

Unless you kill Master Ruan Tian yourself.

The ticket was contained in a craftsman's iron box—this box served a similar purpose to the tainted cloth, completely protecting the bone from the terrible contamination.

Xu Yuan carefully put it away.

Although I dare not use it, it is, after all, an extremely precious item.

When Xu Yuan turned the corpse over, it had already turned into a pile of rotten flesh.

Because of the tattoos on the corpses, those strange creatures that were imprisoned, the weak ones, died along with Qi Yue.

Those who were strong had already taken advantage of the opportunity to quietly burrow underground and slip away.

However, Xu Yuan still discovered that one of the strange creatures hadn't escaped.

Instead, it has come to the surface completely.

These are the scales that protect the vital parts of Qi Yue's body.

According to Qi Yue's memories, this was a peculiar and eerie phenomenon.

It is born in the sea and has a thick, scaled appearance.

It is not rare, but it is not easy to catch.

It attaches itself to some giant fish that live in the sea.

It seems to help the giant fish enhance its defensive capabilities.

It has little direct offensive power, but it is hard, sturdy, and grows rapidly.

The giant fish that were entangled by it either had too many of these strange growths on their bodies, making them too heavy to swim, and sank to the bottom of the sea where they were crushed to death by the seawater.

Either the creature grew so densely that it sealed its mouth shut, causing it to starve to death.

Those who practice "inscription techniques" will try every means to find this strangeness and confine it to themselves, which is equivalent to wearing a layer of soft armor close to their body.

This strange defensive power is extremely strong, comparable to that of a fifth-rate martial artist.

Xu Yuan thought for a moment, then took out the other items from the corpse and breathed fire at it.

Try burning it – you might not get anything out of it, but what if you do? It doesn't hurt to give it a shot.

At worst, I'll add another "crime" to my list: to grind Qi Yue to dust...

I don't care anyway.

Qi Yue was carrying more than five thousand taels of silver notes.

It was just the right amount, enough for his daily expenses.

Xu Yuan cursed inwardly. The capital was extravagant, and the sons of wealthy families were even more so, spending thousands of taels of silver on daily expenses!
Because the transaction with the supernatural involved money, he didn't bring much with him.

In addition, there were a few other crafted items, but they were not of high quality. Because Qi Yue was used to using unorthodox methods in combat, these crafted items were all auxiliary items.

However, Xu Yuan felt slightly disappointed that Qi Yue did not possess any cultivation methods.

Lord Xu was quite curious about the "tattooing method".

Several hundred taels of silver were also found on Qi Yue's two men.

The items on Dan Xiu were of little value to Xu Yuan; their quality was too low.

There is, however, a cultivation method called "Thunder and Fire Tune".

Xu Yuan glanced through it and found that this cultivation method had some merits.

The focus is on refining "mysterious pills".

He refined various bizarre abilities into external pills for his own use.

Some of the methods used to "strip away" the strange abilities are ingenious and clever.

Wu Xiu gave Lord Xu a pleasant surprise.

He carried a patchwork spear, a work of a sixth-rate craftsman.

In addition, there was a pair of arm guards, which were also of the sixth rank!

Xu Yuan couldn't help but laugh: Wu Xiu must have died a very aggrieved death.

He died of illness before he could even use all his skills!

After Lord Xu finished inspecting these items, Qi Yue's body was burned to ashes.

A seashell was visible inside.

Xu Yuan smiled and put it away with satisfaction.

The effects of the tortoise shell divination are still intact; I, Your Majesty, will have a very auspicious day!
This material clearly comes from that kind of scaled evil spirit.

Its defensive capabilities must be quite impressive. I'll hand it over to my stepmother; she can forge a fine artifact from it.

After all the spoils were sorted out, Xu Yuancai prepared to release the two mountain runners.

The two mountain runners stared longingly at Lord Xu.

The strange slime began to solidify as the monstrous insects fled.

Both of them were already having some difficulty breathing.

Xu Yuan checked them over and said, "Bear with it."

Xu Yuan exhaled a wisp of flame, burning away the layers of slime.

During this process, the two were like being put in a clay pot and placed on a fire.

Even though I knew the adults were saving me, I still felt... like this was a cooking method!
You met a cook not long ago, did you learn her cooking skills?

It took a full incense stick's time to finally rescue the two.

Lord Xu's control over the flames was exceptionally exquisite; neither of them even burned off a single eyebrow.

However, both of them had bright red skin all over their bodies, like two crabs that had been baked.

The moment they resumed operations, the two plunged into the nearby river.

thump!
thump!
laugh--

Two plumes of white steam rose from the river!

Xu Yuan couldn't help but chuckle and waited on the riverbank.

Suddenly sensing something, he took out the document from his bosom and saw that it was a message from Jiao:
We'll cross Fengling for a while tonight.

Xu Yuan originally wanted to leave the mountain immediately, but he had no choice but to stay one more night.

He replied to Jiao with a "good" response.

He put the folded document back into his bosom, just as he saw two heads emerge from the river.

However, both heads were covered by a clump of writhing, octopus-like seaweed.

This is a common evil spirit found in mountain rivers, known as the water ghost grass.

This thing often colludes with drowned ghosts and ghost babies in the river, working together in evil ways.

When a person falls into the water, their head is wrapped up by this thing, and their feet are held by something like a drowned ghost.

No matter how much they struggle, they will eventually sink to the bottom of the river.

This thing likes to eat people's scalp.

More accurately, it's human hair.

The body sank to the bottom of the river, and it simply peeled off its scalp and left.

The rest will be left to our partners.

However, the two mountain runners were a completely different case.

Two water ghost plants floated up on its head, and a drowned ghost floated up next to it on each side.

They were killed in the river.

With a casual tug, he pulled off the water ghost grass, tore it to pieces in a few quick movements, and threw it into the river.

The two hikers climbed up on their own.

I was also filled with emotion.

In this Ghost Mountain, we wouldn't say we can run rampant, but we don't really take ordinary evil spirits seriously.

However, when they encountered Qi Yue and his group of outsiders, they were captured after only a few attempts to resist.

In the end, we still had to rely on Lord Xu to save our lives.

Gao Guanzi was still holding a live fish in his hand, and he tossed it to Dafu in a flattering manner.

After all, Dafu ate those strange insects, which can be considered as avenging them.

But this action earned him a disdainful look from Daifu.

I don't eat fish!

Gao Guanzi scratched his head. "Aren't you going to eat?"

There is a pond in Gaojia Village.

However, Gaojia Village really hasn't raised ducks or geese for many years.

"Pack your things, we'll spend the night in the mountains, and I'll head out tomorrow morning."

"Yes."

The two mountain runners picked up all the weapons from the ground.

I definitely can't go to the shrine tonight.

The shack by the river wasn't built in vain.

After they finished tidying up, the three of them went into the shack.

Xu Yuan couldn't distinguish which of the trees was the real seed. He could only wait until he left the mountain to ask Aunt Wang for help in order to advance to the fifth rank.

When there was nothing to do in the shack, he would eat the herbal bait that Dafu had found.

Enhance your own medicinal pills.

Xu Yuan first showed these herbs to the two mountain runners.

They didn't know each other.

The villagers would dig up medicinal herbs, which were also one of their important "mountain products" in the past.

The two mountain runners knew exactly which herbs were produced in Ghost Witch Mountain.

However, Xu Yuan was very certain that this herb could treat certain symptoms of carbuncle.

Xu Yuan instructed the two mountain runners to remember what the herbs looked like, and to keep them for themselves instead of selling them to others if they were ever dug up.

Bai Laoyan and Gao Guanzi naturally responded.

However, Old Man Bai still said, "I have lived in the mountains for decades and have never seen this kind of herb before. I'm afraid it is very rare in these mountains."

Xu Yuan's heart stirred slightly: Why are they so rare?
Could it be that the raven also knew that this herb was its nemesis, so it secretly destroyed it?

……

In the evening, Qiu Ningtai's four men, each carrying a bamboo basket, passed by the river and headed towards Pig Calling Rock.

They did not find the hut among the boulders by the river.

Xu Yuan and the other two naturally did not come out either.

Xu Yuan had obtained the genuine seed and had no intention of causing any further trouble.

Qiu Ningtai and Ju Ya's battle of wits is none of his business; he will never interfere blindly.

When the four people returned, Xu Yuan suddenly remembered another question:
Qi Yue carried a ticket.

Tian Jing said that new buyers had come to the Guanghuo Street.

It's highly likely to be Qi Yue—but what did Qi Yue buy? I didn't find anything special about Qi Yue.

"Ask Jiao tonight."

After dinner, it got dark quickly.

Xu Yuan put on the mud mask and said to the two of them, "I'm going out for a bit. You two wait for me here."

"it is good."

The two had no intention of following.

They now have a very clear understanding of Lord Xu's current strength.

If Lord Xu can't handle these evil spirits, then even if they come along, it's all for naught.

They might even become a burden to adults.

Xu Yuan crawled out of the shack and slowly made his way to Guofeng Ridge.

I waited for an hour.

Several evil spirits passed by during this time.

Fortunately, none of them were of high caliber, and three of them even wanted to invite Xu Yuan, a "kindred spirit," to join them.

They were all chased away by Xu Yuan, who grinned and grimaced.

The enormous body of the dragon swam among the mountains.

The other minor evil spirits were scared away.

Jiao and Tian Jing came together this time.

Upon meeting, Jiao immediately said, "I've found out about Guixumu. The buyers who came to the street this time are also looking for Guixumu, and one of their men can track down Guixumu's whereabouts..."

Xu Yuan then stated directly, "I have already found it."

"Uh..." Jiao didn't know what to say.

Having finally found out about the Ghost Beard Wood, they rushed to tell Lord Xu as if presenting a treasure.

As it turned out, someone else had already gotten there first and found the Ghost Tree.

Xu Yuan waved his hand and asked again, "What does Qi Yue want to buy at Guanghuo Street?"

Jiao's eyes darted around; I hadn't mentioned the buyer's name earlier.

Hmm, it seems that Qi Yue has already fallen into the hands of the adults.

Jiao didn't ask any further questions and answered truthfully, "He wants to buy that one's tendon."

Xu Yuan was stunned for a moment: "What?"

“You heard me right, sir. He wants to buy… a piece of tendon.” Jiao repeated, then lowered his voice and said, “Qi Yue came with a mission and wouldn’t speak without a purpose. In other words… that person’s existence is very likely to have a physical body.”

Xu Yuan was quite shocked.

After a long pause, he said, "If they plot against Him, how could He allow Qi Yue to walk out of Guanghuo Street?"

Jiao laughed.

"The price offered was extremely high, and it did not disgrace that lady."

Jiao clicked his tongue regretfully: "We originally thought that with Qi Yue's arrival, every household could make some profit—I also heard from those evil spirits on Guanghuo Street that the group of people behind Qi Yue are rolling in money."

On the previous visits, everyone made a fortune.

Unexpectedly, this time he had a clear goal: he only wanted that one thing.

Although the price offered was high, that person still wouldn't sell. So he left Guanghuo Street to search for the ghostwood.

Xu Yuan frowned: "What use is that inch of tendon?"

“I knew you would be interested, so I inquired beforehand,” Jiao said. “This thing is incredibly precious, but its uses are actually quite limited.”

The evil spirits on Guanghuo Street knew that it had two uses: one was for martial arts practitioners to advance to the first-class level.

Secondly... it's about mastering the Dragon Transformation Technique!

Xu Yuan remained silent for a long time.

Dragon Transformation Technique!
Is someone from Nandu about to achieve great success?

It must be of top-notch quality.

But there has always been a saying among the people: the true dragon emperor.

In the Southern Capital, there is a true dragon; in the Northern Capital, there is an emperor.

Can they get along?

Xu Yuan let out a breath of stale air with some worry.

The dragon, observing the situation, comforted him, saying, "My lord, there is no need to worry. In this world, there are very few evil spirits of such caliber."

Moreover, one needs a physical body to have even a tiny tendon.

That makes even fewer.

If one person is unwilling to sell, the others certainly won't be willing to sell either.

Xu Yuan nodded, agreeing that this was indeed the case.

If it's a first-rate martial arts practitioner, that's fine, but if it's someone who has truly mastered the Dragon Transformation Technique, the hidden dangers are far too great.

Xu Yuan suddenly thought of another question: To master the Dragon Transformation Technique, one needs "an inch of tendon". Why not ask the Dragon King of the Grand Canal?
The Dragon King of the Canal is of a higher standard.

The Dragon Transformation Technique was also passed down by Him...

Could it be a first-rate martial arts practitioner rather than someone who has mastered the Dragon Transformation Technique?
Or perhaps—the Dragon King of the Grand Canal doesn't want a "real dragon" to appear?
At least at this time of year, I don't want a real dragon to appear.

Xu Yuan shook his head; these things were still too far removed from his own life.

"Qi Yue didn't achieve his goal this time, but he probably won't give up. Someone else might come to Ghost Witch Mountain in a while. Keep a close eye on him."

"We will."

"I will leave the mountain tomorrow. If you need any goods, just let Old Man Bai inform me."

Jiao nodded: "Okay."

The report is already one page long. This document has limited capacity and can only be used for emergency communication.

After discussing these matters, Xu Yuan went back.

Jiao and Tian Jing returned to Guanghuo Street together.

Tian Jing still put on an act in front of Lord Xu, but when it was just the two of them, he revealed some sinister behavior.

Jiao felt a pang of heartache and sighed softly.

Tian Jing said nonchalantly, "You don't need to worry about me. Actually, things are fine as they are now. Before, those guys on Guanghuo Street were a little wary of me, but that won't happen anymore..."

As they were talking, the man and the dragon suddenly stopped.

At the same time, look up at the hillside to the left.

A tangled mass of roots suddenly emerged from the soil.

Then it wandered around aimlessly like a headless fly.

He bumped into a big tree, then pulled it out without saying a word, removed the roots, and attached the trunk to himself.

Unfortunately, once those tree trunks were installed, they would wither and die completely in a short time.

Ghostbeard pulled out seven large trees in a row, but couldn't find a suitable one...

On nights like this, the mountains are filled with a heavy, gloomy atmosphere.

Ghost Beard went mad.

Tian Jing's eyes lit up as she watched.

"I'm really worried about how difficult it is for me to walk now that I look like this!"

"It's only right that I got this treasure!"

Just as Jiao was about to stop him, Tian Jing pounced on him like a wild beast, using both hands and feet.

He leaped into the air on the hillside, his legs firmly planted in the ghost's whiskers.

Ghost Beard trembled.

Then, it's unclear whether the roots of the ghost whiskers merged into Tian Jing's legs, or whether the flesh and blood of Tian Jing's legs wrapped around the ghost whiskers.

Surprisingly, they blended together smoothly and appropriately!
A series of purplish-black lights flashed in Tian Jing's eyes, and the hair on his body grew out in a messy manner, like roots.

He seemed to be out of control and was about to completely transform into an evil spirit.

But then, the hair on his body stopped growing and gradually shrank back.

His eyes gradually regained their clarity.

He controlled the ghost whiskers, quickly descending the hillside, and smiled at the dragon: "It almost went out of control."

Jiao couldn't laugh; his face was ashen, and he shook his head and sighed.

Xu Yuan was unaware of this turn of events at the time. If he had known, he would likely have mixed feelings, unsure whether to call it Tian Jing's "good fortune" or his own calamity.

……

The next morning, Xu Yuan woke up and first checked the Chinese almanac.

Today's prohibited activities include: visiting friends, sword dancing, chanting, and shouting in the mountains.

This is not a good day.

Those who cultivate alchemy, martial arts, and literature will all be affected to some extent.

Xu Yuan was eager to return home.

"We're leaving the mountain today!"

But outside the shack, Qiu Ningtai was seen leading his men toward Pig Calling Rock.

His subordinates pleaded, "Why bother making the trip yourself, sir? We can just go and bring it back."

Qiu Ningtai shook his head: "On the contrary, I should tell you not to come. There is only one piece of blood cake. Even if I can't cure this illness, at least I can save my life."

"You all have to come along. If you all get infected with that disease, how will you divide the blood cake?"

Several henchmen said, "That Flower Bell is also an evil spirit. How can we believe everything it says? What if this blood cake can't cure the carbuncle? Master, you'd better not go. Leave it to us..."

They walked over as they talked.

Xu Yuan nodded to himself. Qiu Ningtai treated his subordinates well; no wonder they were so loyal.

After they left, Xu Yuan crawled out of the shack: "Let's hurry up and go too."

We'd better hurry, lest we run into Qiu Ningtai on his way back.

My own medicine may have cured yesterday's "illness" of the crow, but it may not be able to cure today's.

The crow's condition was clearly worsening day by day.

This trip to Ghost Witch Mountain to find the true seed was planned long ago, but it has been repeatedly delayed by various things.

Xu Yuan had a bad feeling.

Therefore, it's best to avoid any related troubles.

The two mountain runners hurriedly followed.

Lord Xu has actually boarded a fiery wheel!
The two mountain runners had no choice but to use all their skills to catch up with the adult at full speed.

Several hours later, the three returned to Gaojia Village.

Gao Guanzi warmly invited Lord Xu to come into the village to rest, and Xu Yuan refused without hesitation.

The same thing happened when we passed through Wangxiang Village.

Xu Yuan emerged from Ghost Mountain that very day.

……

When Qiu Ningtai and his group arrived near Pig Calling Rock, his men, seeing that their attempts to persuade him were futile, exchanged a glance and then knelt down together, clinging tightly to his legs.

Then one person risked his life to rush down and put the small animal covered in sores into a bamboo basket.

Unsurprisingly, he also fell ill.

Qiu Ningtai angrily drove away the others and personally treated the patient.

Qiu Ningtai has some methods for isolating the disease.

He and his other subordinates are still in good health.

But by evening, he still hadn't been able to cure the infected person.

In the end, he could only feed the blood cake to his subordinates, which was how he lost to the carbuncle crow.

After his men ate the blood cake, they recovered completely.

Unexpectedly, by nightfall, everyone suddenly developed red sores and had a persistent high fever!

At the same time, along their return journey from Pig Call Rock to camp, all the vegetation along the way fell ill and withered.

(End of this chapter)