I bear witness to immortality in the human world.

Chapter 98 Water Ghost
Wu Village.

into the night.

Wu Ming sat cross-legged on the bed, the Crimson Python Spear lying horizontally in front of him, his eyes closed, his expression normal.

After an unknown amount of time, in the quiet of the night, the half-closed door not far away suddenly became damp, with streaks of water seeping in along the cracks, flowing silently.

The puddle of water seeped into the room little by little through the crack in the door, silently gathering in front of Wu Ming's bed, and finally turning into a puddle of water with a faint glow. Then, from the surface of that water, a pale baby's face was suddenly reflected!

The baby's face slowly emerged from the water stains, its eyes were pitch black, and its whole body exuded an extremely heavy aura of yin and evil. Just by showing its form, the temperature in the entire room dropped by several degrees instantly.

Wu Ming seemed oblivious, already sitting cross-legged on the bed.

The pale-skinned baby slowly climbed up the bed until it reached Wu Ming's side, then stretched out a small, pale hand and reached towards Wu Ming's heart.

Just as its pale little hand was about to touch Wu Ming's chest, Wu Ming slowly opened his eyes. He looked at the strange baby standing in front of him, watching the water seeping from its feet, but his gaze was very calm.

"It is clearly a yin and evil thing, yet it seems to possess a physical form. That's quite interesting."

In Wu Ming's perception, he could clearly feel the dense Yin energy emanating from the strange infant in front of him, but at the same time, the body was not a purely ethereal soul, but rather had substance, as if it were formed from a stream of water.

In the form of material condensation, this is the power of the Dharma body that can only be mastered after the fourth refinement of the primordial spirit.

However, this strange infant in front of us is obviously far from a true Taoist physique. It has too much evil energy and feels like a product of unorthodox cultivation. Not to mention comparing it to a fourth-level primordial spirit, it is clearly inferior to Wu Ming's third-level primordial spirit. At most, it is only between the second and third levels of strength.

"Gulu gulu."

The eerie baby opened its mouth and made a sound, but it wasn't a baby's cry. Instead, it made a gurgling sound, as if cold lake water had been poured into its nasal cavity, like the last struggle of a drowning person.

The sound alone was extremely unsettling, and the baby reached out and touched Wu Ming's body with its tiny, pale hand.

"It's done!"

Outside Wu Ming's house, Sha Hongsheng, the leader of the Sand Boat Gang, was observing the scene inside through the crack in the door. A cold, eerie light flashed in his eyes. The water ghost he was raising was no ordinary creature. It was cultivated from the corpses of dozens of drowned people and the essence blood of martial artists was collected and buried deep underground. Using a special secret method, it was transformed from yang to yin to raise the water ghost, and its power was terrifying.

Once entangled by this water ghost, unless one is a master who has achieved three levels of blood coagulation and can forcibly unleash extremely refined pure yang blood energy, one cannot break free from its entanglement. Those who have achieved three levels of blood coagulation simply cannot escape and will be drained of their life essence and die!

Although Wu Ming's blood energy was strong, it was far from reaching the level of three-stage blood clotting. Although he seemed to realize something at the last moment, he was touched by the water ghost he raised and had no chance to get rid of it. He was bound to die.

but.

Just the next moment.

Something seemed to explode in Sha Hongsheng's pale eyes. The whites of his eyes, which were originally snow-white, were suddenly soaked with bright red blood, and his eyes turned into bloodshot pupils!
His entire body tensed instantly, veins bulging, and he clutched his chest with his right hand, making a 'hoarse' sound as if he had encountered something extremely terrifying.

"what happened!"

Guo Xiang, who was not far away, noticed Sha Hongsheng's unusual behavior and his expression changed slightly.

boom.

Just then, Wu Ming's half-closed door suddenly opened, and Wu Ming stepped out of the room holding a long spear. He glanced at Sha Hongsheng and said, "Ghosts and spirits are extremely yin and evil. If you are in contact with them for a long time, you will definitely be poisoned. I think it is better not to learn such unorthodox and evil tricks that shorten one's lifespan."

"Ah...ah..."

Sha Hongsheng strained his voice, barely able to utter a sound, staring intently at Wu Ming as if he had seen something utterly terrifying. Finally, he coughed up a mouthful of blood and collapsed to the ground.

He was a martial artist, not a Daoist or soul cultivator. If he wanted to control and master the water ghost, there was only one way: to link his life with the water ghost's and refine his soul into one. In this way, if one was destroyed, the other would also be destroyed. Once the water ghost was destroyed, the person would also suffer the pain of being pierced through the heart and have their soul scattered. All of this could not escape Wu Ming's perception.

The method of raising water ghosts surprised him slightly, but that was all; he had no interest in exploring it further.

"Who do you think you are, coming to seek revenge in the middle of the night? Judging from your appearance, I'm sure I haven't guessed who you are."

"..."

Guo Xiang frowned slightly, surprised by Sha Hongsheng's sudden death. However, he was unfamiliar with the evil secret method of raising water ghosts and only thought that Sha Hongsheng had been poisoned by water and had suffered a backlash from using this unorthodox method for many years.

Now he was all alone, and although he was still confident of winning against Wu Ming, things had become more complicated than he had anticipated.

“I never thought this kind of unorthodox approach would be of any benefit, and his suffering as a result is divine punishment.”

Guo Xiang looked at Wu Ming, and with a gentle wave of his right hand, a long sword appeared in his hand. He said, "It seems that if I want to take your life, I'll have to do it myself." "What a pity."

Wu Ming watched as Guo Xiang drew his sword, but shook his head slightly.

Guo Xiang stepped forward and said, "What's the pity?"

"It's a pity you're a little late."

Wu Ming's gaze was indifferent as he said, "If it were before, I wouldn't mind using you to hone my marksmanship, but now I've lost interest, so... let's end this farce here."

laugh.

A point of crimson blood suddenly appeared and magnified in Guo Xiang's eyes.

Guo Xiang's pupils contracted sharply, and the hairs on his body stood on end. Instantly, a sense of terror enveloped his entire body. He was a man who had endured many trials, and when he saw that beam of blood, he felt as if life and death were separated by a mere thread!
In the face of a silent and deadly crisis, Guo Xiang, a martial artist who had achieved three stages of blood coagulation, was driven by instinct. With a low roar, his blood energy surged into his meridians, stimulating his muscles and unleashing an unprecedented power. He brandished his longsword, slashing out a full moon of blade light to intercept the beam of blood-red light.

but,
All of this was still to no avail.

Even a top disciple of a major sect like Shen Lian, a master of the third stage of blood coagulation with his skills perfectly integrated, couldn't withstand several attacks from Wu Ming's flying sword. Xu Mo, who was infinitely close to the unity realm of the third stage of blood coagulation, couldn't even withstand a single move. Not to mention Guo Xiang, who had only recently entered the third stage of blood coagulation and had barely stabilized his realm and learned some basic martial arts techniques.

In a mere instant, the blood-red light shattered the full moon blade's gleam and pierced through Guo Xiang's brow.

"you……"

Guo Xiang gripped his long sword, his figure frozen in place, his eyes filled with disbelief as he looked at Wu Ming.

puff.

Wu Ming's gaze was calm. He thrust the Crimson Python Spear forward, piercing straight into Guo Xiang's brow, penetrating through the wound where the flying sword had pierced him, and exiting from the back of his head. It carried Guo Xiang's body more than ten feet backward, crashing through the fence outside the courtyard, and finally pinning him to a raised mound of earth at the edge of the fence.

Guo Xiang's last words also came to an abrupt end. His eyes stared at the dim sky, quickly dimming, with a trace of unwillingness and disbelief still lingering deep within them.

Wu Ming stepped forward, skillfully drew his spear, and with a thought, pulled out all the items carried by the corpse and threw them into the Demon Subduing Realm. Then he threw the corpse in as well, and then turned around and threw Sha Hongsheng's corpse into the Demon Subduing Realm as well.

then,

I quickly cleaned up the traces.

Looking at the damaged fence, he didn't repair it. He just shook his head slightly, shook off the bloodstains on the Crimson Python Spear, buried it, and then turned around and went back into the house.

The fence in this yard will never be repaired again, just as his footsteps will never linger here.

The attack under the cover of night was silent and ended without incident. The entire Wu Village remained quiet and peaceful, unnoticed and unknown to anyone.

As dawn broke the darkness of the night, a ray of sunlight shone through the window into Wu Ming's room. He finally opened his eyes slowly, got off the bed, and took out the spiritual rice, dried meat, and other rations he had prepared from the Demon Subduing Realm. After eating his fill, he went to the courtyard and, just as he had done years before, got up early every morning to practice his skills.

Bathed in the morning light, his body seemed to radiate golden light. He first practiced a complete set of Falling Leaf Spear Technique, and then a set of Chasing Wind Spear Technique. After practicing for about half an hour, he put away his spear and stood up, feeling the surging blood energy in his body. He gently exhaled a long breath, calmed his breathing, and then turned and walked into the house.

Arriving at the bedside,
He placed the Crimson Python Spear beside the bed, went to the bed, sat cross-legged, and slowly closed his eyes.

He activated the "Lin" technique, and instantly all distracting thoughts vanished without a trace, leaving only a sense of tranquility in his heart, like a calm pond. At this moment, his blood and energy were surging and restless, but his will remained as firm as a reef, completely unaffected.

"Congeal!"

Finally, Wu Ming took a deep breath, lowered his mind, and focused his attention on his lower abdomen, dantian, concentrating all his senses there.

At this moment, he felt the vibrant blood energy surging and converging within his dantian. Then, guided by his will, it began to rotate continuously, as if it were surrounding an invisible pill. In the midst of this rotation, it quietly began to condense and intensify!
Three attempts to achieve blood clotting!

Although he had read about the three-stage blood clotting process in various martial arts books, this was Wu Ming's first time trying it himself. The impact of the three-stage blood clotting process was indeed different from the first and second stages.

Because the blood and qi in the body are sufficiently abundant, during the impact, the blood in the entire body seems to be affected, almost boiling. The increased blood flow also makes the body feel as if it is in a furnace, generating an extreme heat.

This heat originates from the blood and qi, and gradually spreads to the heart, like a burning fire in the heart.

If a martial artist has a weaker will, at this point, it is often difficult to maintain their will. They may experience various mental illusions due to the unbearable heat and intense inner fire. Once they are immersed in these illusions, the process of blood clotting will be slightly interrupted, and failure is inevitable.

(End of this chapter)