Fangxian Heretical Path

Chapter 236 Worth Three Thousand: Walking on Thin Ice
In the underground dragon vein, Fang Shu held two bone nails, rejoicing for a long time.

Coming to his senses, he composed himself and immediately began to refine the first bone nail anew.

He poured his true energy into it. Although the runes and restrictions in the bone nail had been completely destroyed, his true energy and the object's energy were still compatible due to the previous refinement.

So, in just one or two days, he refined the bone nail again.

However, after successfully refining it, Fang Shu fell into a deep thought.

Looking at the dense, foul aura of the dragon vein around him, he was torn: "Should I persevere and refine this bone nail into a human-yellow nail, or should I keep it for later use..."

By refining two Human Yellow Nails in one go, he now possessed two near-Foundation Establishment level magical artifacts, which would undoubtedly be of great benefit to his future cultivation path.

However, the effects of similar spiked arrows overlap and cannot be combined, making it difficult for them to achieve a synergistic effect greater than the sum of their parts.

After thinking it over several times, Fang Shu decided to hold back: "Let's wait and see. Perhaps we can collect new sixth and seventh tribulation medicines in the mountain gate to refine this nail and forge a new nail-headed arrow."

He thought to himself that even if he didn't get what he wanted afterward, he could always return to this dragon vein and use the foul energy there to refine weapons; it would just be another trip.

After clearing his mind, Fang Shu felt a sense of relief.

With a buzzing sound, he twirled the spiked arrow once more, then cut open his arms, revealing the bones inside.

He inserted two nails into his flesh, hiding them between the two bones of his arm.

This is the method of nourishing the vessel with one's own body. It can increase the degree of compatibility between him and the vessel, and can also conceal the vessel to a certain extent, preventing others from seeing it.

However, if Fang Shu eventually manages to refine three or seven nail-headed arrows, he can try to combine them together, either swallowing them or placing them in his ear canals, so that when used, he can fire three or seven arrows at once, making them even more powerful.

Having dealt with the newly acquired magical artifact, Fang Shu stood up from in front of the dragon vein pit, his face serene.

He looked in the direction he had come from, and the thought of leaving had already taken hold of him.

He spent nearly a month forging weapons here, and now there is only one month left before the sect's summons deadline.

Returning now is neither too early nor too late; it's just right.

However, Fang Shu suddenly remembered something, so instead of setting off immediately, he suddenly flipped his palm over, and two round balls the size of peaches appeared in his palm.

He held it in one hand, as if he were holding two iron balls. But these two spheres had noses and eyes; they were actually two shrunken human heads, one male and one female, the very same pair of lovers who had been having sex in the secret room.

In recent days, Fang Shu has been busy exploring the dragon vein and refining magical artifacts, so he has not conducted soul-searching interrogation on the two people. He simply took their heads and used the head-shrinking technique to imprison their souls inside their heads.

Now that I have some free time, I can finally conduct a thorough interrogation.

He thought to himself, "It's perfect that through these two, while interrogating Xiao Xishan, I can also find out what's going on inside Wu Zang Temple. Otherwise, I'll return completely clueless."

Ahh!

Suddenly, a strange gurgling sound came from Fang Shu's hands. Before he could speak, a man and a woman's voices of pleas for mercy and curses came from within the two shrunken heads:

"Immortal, spare my life! Reset my soul!"

"You scoundrel! Kill me if you want, but why do you imprison my soul? You will die a horrible death!"

Upon hearing this, Fang Shu showed no anger. He simply moved his mind, and wisps of slightly white thread emerged from his fingers and pierced into the two shrunken heads.

Soon, page after page of memories appeared in Fang Shu's mind.

Meanwhile, the man and woman could no longer curse, and could only answer Fang Shu's questions one after the other.

After searching his soul, Fang Shu showed a look of surprise.

He slowly opened his eyes, and sighed softly, "As expected, they are two huge rats!"

It turns out that the desolate scene in Xiaoxishan was not due to the looting by the people of the Kugu Temple, but rather because these two guys had lured thieves into the temple beforehand, and then stole from the temple, killing and robbing the people in Xiaoxishan.

In particular, all the other outer disciples who were originally guarding the mountain were killed by the two of them. Their purpose was not only to prevent others from discovering anything, but also to prevent others from sharing the spoils.

In this way, the large amount of supplies in Xiaoxishan, which was said to have fallen into the hands of the bandits of Kugu Temple, actually all fell into the hands of the two of them.

To create the illusion of being plundered, the two men burned a large amount of supplies in Xiaoxishan to mislead the public, which was quite wasteful.

They only stored the highest quality spiritual items in their own storage bags and the Little West Mountain warehouse.

This is also why, when Fang Shu sneaked into Xiaoxishan, the storeroom, though full of spiritual items, was not yet completely filled.

As he combed through his belongings, Fang Shu made a move in his hand, and two more exquisite purses and pouches appeared.

Based on the password he extracted from the man and woman, he opened the two storage bags in no time.

After a few taps, a look of joy appeared on his face again.

The spirit stones and items inside the two storage bags were worth over a thousand. If you included some miscellaneous items, the total value would reach fifteen hundred.

The reason they had so many spirit stones and spiritual items was that long before Fang Shu arrived, the couple had already been secretly selling off the spiritual items they had accumulated in Little West Mountain, but they didn't dare to go too far with the buying and selling.

Fang Shu clutched two storage bags, his face beaming with excitement.

Aside from the two nail-headed arrows, his profit from spirit stones has already reached three thousand.

This number was the largest he had ever encountered in his life, far exceeding what he had previously obtained from Dai Kuan.

"This Little Western Hill is truly my blessed land."

Fang Shu sighed inwardly and couldn't help but thank his friend Tian Jinmao.

Before long, he had moved all the spiritual items inside and put them into the little space he had just freed up in his own storage bag.

As for other useless miscellaneous items, such as bellybands, he threw them all into the mud pit in front of him, letting them rot on the spot and completely erase all traces.

After dealing with the clutter, he looked down at the two human heads in his hands.

He had already exhausted most of the memories he could from the minds of this pair of illicit lovers, including the spells they practiced, which he had also extracted and forced out of them.

The man surnamed Wang was actually from the Wang family, a family known for its strong internal organs.

The Wang family is a Foundation Establishment family within the temple, and unlike your family, the Wang family's ancestor is in his prime, at the age of vigorous progress, and is also one of the eighteen heads within the temple.

It was precisely because of this that the other party was able to persuade the spirits in the temple to strip Tian Jinmao of his ancestral property with just a few words.

Fang Shu thought to himself, "In that case, Brother Tian, ​​I have avenged you in a small way."

Suddenly, a painful scream rang out from between the two heads:

"Fellow Daoist, didn't you say you would spare me this time? Quickly let me go!" "Master, please spare my soul. In my next life, I am willing to be your ox or horse."

These were the words Fang Shu casually agreed to when he interrogated the two of them during the soul-searching.

With the blessing of the divine silk, his soul-searching technique was quite exquisite compared to ordinary soul-searching techniques, but it still couldn't completely unravel the other person's entire life as clearly as the lines on the palm of one's hand.

Therefore, the best results from soul searching can be achieved if the other party cooperates, reaching a level of appropriate detail. Thus, when searching the soul, he also employed some psychological tactics, such as bribery or promises.

Upon hearing the voices of a man and a woman, Fang Shu couldn't help but smile.

He readily agreed, saying, "Alright, I keep my word. You two may go."

After he finished speaking, he released the restraints.

The man surnamed Wang and the woman were taken aback at first, but then their souls realized that the restriction on their bodies was indeed gone.

With a whoosh, they immediately burst out of the shrunken heads and rushed headlong towards the outside, fearing that Fang Shu might change his mind.

But no sooner had they run out than two piercing screams echoed from their very souls:
"Ah... what is this?!"

"Save me! Save me!"

The moment the cries of the souls entered Fang Shu's mind, the two souls twisted and turned into a wisp of green smoke amidst the foul air of the dragon vein, instantly vanishing into nothingness.

Fang Shu flicked his sleeves and coldly took in the scene.

These two guys are no ordinary people, and he has already killed them physically. How could he possibly let them go back and confirm his guilt of killing his own fellow disciples?

hum!
Suddenly, Fang Shu's expression changed slightly.

He discovered that as the soul of the man surnamed Wang turned to ashes, a rune suddenly jumped out from within it, emanating a strange and oppressive aura.

The oppressive aura surged forth, swirling and rotating in all directions, seemingly poised to fly towards Fang Shu.

Seeing that things were going badly, Fang Shu didn't have time to summon the Nailhead Arrow, so he hurriedly raised the Hundred Gu Banner of the Dragon Spine.

Fortunately, before the rune could get close to him, it was enveloped and entangled by the surrounding dragon vein's foul energy, and was annihilated.

It wasn't until the rune dissipated that Fang Shu finally came to his senses. His face showed lingering fear, as he realized that the aura he had just encountered was equivalent to that of his master, the Immortal Dragon Maiden.

"This is... the method of a Foundation Establishment Immortal!"

Fang Shu looked surprised and doubtful, but at the same time felt quite fortunate.

He immediately understood that the soul of the Wang family scion must contain the Wang family patriarch's secret weapon.

If someone were to kill even the soul of a member of the Wang family, the rune would be branded onto the murderer like a curse, making them known to the Wang family and prompting them to come and deal with them.

If no one destroys his soul, the Wang family member will most likely still have ways to escape back to the Wang family and report all the information about the murderer to the clan.

Realizing this, Fang Shu looked around at the foul energy of the dragon vein again, breathed a sigh of relief, and said, "This place is truly my blessed land."

If he had personally annihilated that fellow's soul just now, if this place hadn't been filled with the foul aura of the dragon vein, he might have been tainted by karma and would have had a formidable enemy before even returning to his inner palace.

Fortunately, things hadn't gotten that bad, Fang Shu thought, trying to calm himself down.

But this sudden change also made him take out all the spirit stones and spirit grains in his hands again and examine them carefully one by one, just in case there were any hidden tricks among them.

He also reluctantly threw the two sizable storage bags and the corpses of a man and a woman, both immortals, into the dragon vein pit, leaving them to be disposed of by the foul air.

Having done all this, he secretly reminded himself that if he ever captured thieves again, he must handle them in the same way as he had today.

Fang Shu pondered: "Especially when silencing a thief with some background, it is essential to use someone else or an external object. At the very least, it must be done by a Gu worm."

After repeatedly confirming that he had not forgotten anything, he even abandoned his plan to return the way he came.

It took nearly ten days.

Relying on his Water and Fire Robe, he managed to find another underground river within the dragon veins beneath the earth. He then dived into the water and escaped through the underground river in the dark.

In the end, he didn't even know how he left the Xiaoxishan area. He only knew that when he appeared on the river, he was already outside Xiaoxishan, dozens of miles away.

Without the slightest hesitation, Fang Shu, carrying his spoils, quickly rushed towards the gate of Wuzangmiao Mountain.

Not long after, he successfully reached Hama Beach without being intercepted.

The moment Fang Shu stepped onto the mudflats, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

………………

the other side.

On Little West Mountain, as the soul of the man surnamed Wang vanished, divine consciousness surged forth from the mountain, instantly overwhelming half of the mountain and causing all living things and plants to bow down.

A middle-aged man stood there, his eyes wide with rage, his face fierce.

Around him, a group of mountain laborers knelt on the ground, their faces ashen, clearly having knelt for a long time, too terrified to even breathe. Some of them had even knelt to death on the spot, their heads drooping listlessly like quails.

"Useless, useless!" the middle-aged man cursed.

He looked at the people kneeling around him and said angrily, "My son's soul has been scattered, why are you still clinging to life?"

The people around, whether well-dressed or hunched over, all paled.

But before they could utter a single word, their expressions froze, and their heads, like fruits, easily fell to the ground, rolling around.

Even after killing these people, the middle-aged man was still furious and cursed, "You eat my Wang family's food and are treated as my Wang family's dogs, yet you can't even bark a few times. What use are you!"

But no matter how much he cursed, he couldn't change the fact that the Wang family's son had been completely destroyed, and he didn't even know who the murderer was.

Much later.

The man finally calmed down, and a troublesome look appeared on his face.

His brows furrowed, and he thought to himself, "Things can be done so decisively and efficiently that even the soul talisman left by the ancestor in the direct lineage cannot react."

Such methods are far beyond the reach of ordinary people. Could it be... that a celestial being is plotting against my Wang family, even my ancestor?!

Realizing this, the middle-aged man surnamed Wang's expression changed. After waiting in the same spot for a day or two, he sealed off the entire Xiaoxishan Mountain and hurriedly returned to the temple.

(End of this chapter)