Daoqi Huangcheng

Chapter 38. The Five Realms
Two days later, deep within Cuiyun Mountain, it would take a normal woodcutter and hunter at least a day and a night to reach this place.
Nobody comes here.

Grateful for Master Ma's gift, Song Chen successfully used the [Exploring the Netherworld] secret technique once again in this new region to summon the Yellow Springs and gather water spiritual energy.

In an instant, wandering ghosts and spirits, shadowy and numerous, drifted towards this place, covering the entire mountainside.
A new house built of wood and stone stands on the mountainside, some distance from Song Chen.

Under the eaves, a lovely young woman stood on a wooden stool with her sleeves rolled up, occasionally bending down to receive salted meat handed to her by a beautiful woman below, which she then hung high to air dry.

The meat is beef and horse meat.

Hanging meat upwind in the deep mountains like this would normally attract ferocious beasts, but now the white shadows covering the mountains and fields have made even the fiercest animals afraid to enter.

When the sun rose high in the sky, casting its warm golden light, Lady Qingyue jumped down from the wooden stump, and the wooden bucket in front of Lady Qianxue, which had been full of cured meat, was now empty.

The Pei sisters exchanged a glance, then simultaneously turned their gaze to the distance.

In the center of the open space stood a mountain of corpses piled up by Master Ma and others. The mountain of corpses, like incense sticks, emitted a "fragrance" that attracted all the wandering ghosts and spirits that were originally aimlessly wandering around.

The Pei sisters couldn't see the wandering ghosts, but they could see clusters of eerie, intermittently appearing white shadows that exuded an aura that made the living extremely uncomfortable.

The young man sat calmly beside the mountain of corpses, amidst the evil spirits, his eyes closed and fingers clasped, cultivating with utmost tranquility.

If you remove the surrounding scenery, the young man cultivating would only give the impression of a normal cultivator, but in this setting, he exudes an indescribable sinister and evil aura.
Just then, a venomous ghost face suddenly appeared before Lady Asahi's eyes.

The ghostly face suddenly pressed against her face, its pale pupils staring straight at her.

"what!!"

Lady Asayuki was so frightened that she fell to the ground, hugging the heaving bear, panting in horror.

But the ghost face couldn't get in; it was blocked by an invisible golden shield.

This is the "Golden Bell Talisman". Song Chen obtained five of them from Lao Xiu before, and now he has given them all to Pei Qingyue to protect their residence.

The ghost face was unconscious; it had simply bumped into the golden shield by accident. Now that it was blocked, it changed direction again, dragging its cold, white, fluffy outline toward the direction of the "fragrance".

Madam Qianxue hurriedly returned to her room, took off her shoes, and crawled into bed. Young Lady Qingyue followed closely behind and sat down on the edge of the couch.

for a long time
Qingyue sighed softly, "It's all my fault."

Madam Qianxue said, "He didn't blame you. Actually, I didn't even notice this. After all, you pretended to be a martial arts master as a Celestial Guard and then tried to build an information network in the martial arts world to get information for him. It's really hard to find fault with that, and it's really hard to imagine that someone would help you promote it just to sell our entire mansion for a better price."

The two women suddenly fell silent.

Suddenly, Qingyue said, "My husband doesn't seem like a righteous cultivator. His family might be some kind of terrifying demonic sect."

Her voice trembled slightly.

She was at a loss.

The "script" in her mind about her husband was revised again and again, from "a little beggar under a bridge gets a chance" to "a genius cultivator is persecuted", and then from "a genius cultivator is persecuted" to "a little brat from the demonic sect escapes the encirclement and killing".
When she was a Celestial Guardian, she had heard a lot about the methods of demonic cultivators. They were mostly similar to demons, and their cultivation methods often made them cold, ruthless, cunning, and treacherous.

Although Qingyue had not yet seen "cold-bloodedness" in Song Chen, she had already seen "cunning and treacherousness".

She originally intended to help her husband reclaim what belonged to him, but now she couldn't help but wonder if he would kill her.

Qingyue lowered her voice again and asked, "Sister, why do you think he brought the two of us with him?"

Madam Qianxue said, "He needs us to maintain contact with the Que family. He needs a big tree to lean on, even if it's just on the edge of this tree, it's better than having nothing above him."

Qingyue asked anxiously, "Does he still need it now?"

This time, Madam Qianxue remained silent for a long time before slowly saying, "You and I, sisters, were not originally nobles. Back then, I used all my skills to make the young Que Shenyun fall at my feet. After that, you and I followed Que Shenyun to the clouds and stood in a place that we could only look up to before. Now we have become representatives of a branch of the Que family."

After saying that, she raised her beautiful eyes, glanced at her younger sister, and asked, "Why?"

Qingyue said, "Because of your skillful management, Sister, Que Shenyun can focus on his cultivation. Moreover, you are very capable and understand men's minds very well."

Madam Qianxue shook her head and said, "These are all secondary, because I am loyal to Que Shenyun. While he was alive, I did not do anything to betray him."

Now, your husband's future is no less promising than Que Shenyun's, and you and I, sisters, are already bound to him. Be loyal to him; from now on, he comes first, the Que family second. If one day he soars to great heights, you and I will rise to even greater heights with him.”

Young Lady Qingyue asked nervously, "Then...what if he..."

Lady Qianxue interrupted, "That's fate."

After saying that, she softened her expression and said, "Besides, I think Xiao Song is quite nice."

Qingyue calmed down considerably. She nodded thoughtfully and then said, "I have no choice but to go with him."

Suddenly, Madam Qianxue leaned close to her ear and chuckled, "How did you and he do things on the bed in the past?"

Qingyue blushed.

Madam Qianxue said, "She looks like a lazy, dull woman. She may not be able to be like before. We need to make her happy and joyful." As she spoke, she lowered her voice and began to impart some of her experience.

The more Qingyue listened, the more blushed she became.

But the thought that her husband was a demonic cultivator still terrified her. She learned these skills as a way to survive.

Song Chen had no idea what the Pei sisters were thinking, and there were some things that he couldn't explain even if he tried.

This world is dangerous. He needs the background of the Que family that the Pei sisters have, and he also needs a few trustworthy people around him. Moreover, people are not plants or trees, how can they be without feelings? After spending a long time together, coupled with the identity of "family", feelings will really develop.

Logically and emotionally, the things the Pei sisters are worried about will not actually happen.

At this time, Song Chen's cultivation was progressing smoothly.

One month later.
The fourth water spirit root has been successfully condensed!

Fourthly, it is a bottleneck; further cultivation requires a higher concentration of spiritual energy.

However, what was summoned by the [Exploring the Netherworld] secret technique was the Yellow Springs. Although the Yellow Springs was only a trickle, the concentration of spiritual energy had already fully met the standard.

so.
Keep practicing.

Two months later
The fifth water spirit root has been successfully condensed!

If the first four spiritual roots are like seeds that connect to the body, making the body seem like a seed that has sprouted roots and can draw spiritual energy from the surrounding air, then this fifth spiritual root is like a seed that has taken root in a mysterious "soil".

After a brief sensing, Song Chen discovered that even though there was absolutely no spiritual energy around him, he could still recover spiritual energy through this fifth spiritual root.

Now, he can be considered to have truly entered the fifth stage of Qi Gathering.

He felt a limit.

Because the Liu family member who was an inner disciple of the Imperial City Temple was already at the fifth level of the Fire Qi Gathering Realm.

Currently, the "cold protection" function that the five realms of fire-based energy gathering can provide has reached its limit.

If he continues to forcefully cultivate the "Yellow Springs Scripture," he might be frozen to death by that chilling yin energy.

Meanwhile, after three months of cultivation, the surrounding wandering ghosts and spirits were exhausted once again, and the Underworld closed once more.

However, Song Chen did not intend to leave immediately.

He has a good habit: if there is even the slightest bit of resources left for cultivation, he will definitely use them all up before leaving.

He has great patience.

At this moment, although he could no longer improve his realm, the intermediate supernatural powers recorded in the Yellow Springs Scripture did indeed emerge one by one.

One technique: Water Escape.

Compared to the "Golden Sword Resonance, Transforming into Escape Light" of the Sword Release, the Water Release is to escape upon encountering water.

Because it lacks resonance, it consumes more energy than [Sword Escape], unless a water-type treasure is found.

However, there are many spirit iron weapons in this world, but very few water-based treasures. At least for now, if you ask Song Chen, he can't name even one.

One category is [Rainfall].

The principle of this technique is: if there is no water in this area, I cannot use [Water Control] or [Water Escape]. Therefore, I will summon water.

The third method is extremely peculiar, with a very special requirement: when performing this supernatural power, one must hold the black jade slip of the "Yellow Springs Scripture".

This black jade slip is like a key; only by possessing this key can one use this secret technique.

In other words, this secret technique is very likely unique.

It cannot be used without a black jade slip.

This supernatural power is called: 【Karma Mirror】.

Its purpose is to observe people's past events.

The human soul has writhed and rolled around in this world, accumulating karma, both good and bad.

The principle behind the use of the "Illusion Mirror" is precisely to influence these karmas, causing the other person to see you as someone else and simultaneously causing their thoughts to become confused.

The [Karma Mirror], on the other hand, requires no intervention whatsoever. Simply casting the technique, holding the jade slip, and calmly observing...
The past achievements are presented one by one.

Compared to this supernatural power, the Soul Searching Technique is utterly pathetic.

(End of this chapter)