Zhongshan Shenzhu Chi

The rain that fell on the day of Jingzhe (Awakening of Insects) lasted for three whole days.

The plants, which had endured the entire winter, awoke amidst thunder and torrential rain.

They stretch out their roots in the softened soil, greedily and quietly drinking in the rain that falls from the sky.

The giant snake swam through the mud, its body covered in black scales like iron armor. Along its path, withered branches and rotten leaves soaking in the mud were all crushed and scattered into mud.

Huai Nian's love for Zhongshan today comes naturally and from the bottom of her heart.

The fresh air and the fragrance of earth enveloped my tongue, while birdsong filled my ears.

At this time, it can usually calm down and cultivate, and achieve twice the result with half the effort.

But after visiting my mother yesterday, I've been feeling a cloud hanging over my heart, and I just can't relax.

"My mother needs to rest, and to suppress Zhongshan, I must be one step ahead of the Golden Ape... I must break through the shackles of the three realms and become a great demon long before it."

"Only with overwhelming force can I intimidate the demons of Zhongshan."

The black serpent arrived at its destination, a clearing in the forest, where a huge bluish-gray boulder was pressed down in the center.

Huai Nian perched atop it, looking up at the rising sun in the sky.

"But I am currently restless and not in a good position for spiritual practice... I need to find the source of my unease first."

Thinking of this, the black serpent raised its tail and coiled out the ancient book hidden in its scales.

Judging from the timeline, ever since he delivered this thing to the valley, he has felt like his heart was hanging in mid-air, unable to settle down.

But ever since the ancient book "The Three Qi Return to Nature" was published, it is now just a stack of blank paper with no words or pictures in Huai Nian's eyes.

My mother has also read it; this book records the lineage of some cultivation techniques.

"Could it be that the golden ape truly intends to defy Mother's divine decree and descend the mountain to attack the city?"

Scratching his head with the tip of his tail, Huai Nian quickly rejected the idea.

Although the golden ape was simple-minded, it was extremely devoted to its mother, just like the other mythical beasts of Zhongshan.

Excluding monsters, that leaves humans.

But recently, apart from the seven people from the new village who went up the mountain to worship the mountain god, no outsiders have gone up the mountain.

"Could it be that I overstepped my bounds by letting them go down the mountain, and my maternal instincts are warning me?"

"That doesn't make sense either... after all, I already sent the offerings to the valley."

Huai Nian placed the ancient book in front of him and pondered the events of yesterday.

Humans, demons, and other creatures.

When all possibilities have been ruled out, then the last one, no matter how impossible, is inevitable.

"It's still humans, and only humans."

"Although I can't figure out what they could possibly be up to that's making me so uneasy, I'll still send the fox to check it out."

"Let's also see if we can find out from the people in the new village why humans have suddenly started to oppose the worship of their mothers."

The black serpent raised its head and hissed.

Low-frequency sound waves are highly penetrating and distinctive, and travel far and wide.

After waiting for a while on the rock, the howl of a fox echoed through the deep forest.

A single-tailed white fox jumped down from a tree and landed on a rock.

It sat upright and obediently, its tail swaying gently behind it.

The white fox remained unchanged, preferring cleanliness and refusing to set foot on muddy ground.

"Candle, what are your orders?" it asked, tilting its head slightly.

"Take a look at this book first." Huai Nian placed the blank ancient book in front of the white fox. "How many characters can you read?"

"Um……"

The white fox raised its front paw, carefully hooked the cover, and turned the pages.

After carefully examining about a third of the area, the white fox shook its head: "Candle, I can't see anything."

"Then forget it, I won't force you." Huai Nian put the ancient book back into the scales on his neck. "Go down the mountain immediately and find a mountain village called 'Xin'. It should be at the foot of Zhongshan Mountain."

"Hmm." The white fox nodded. "What do I need to do after I find it?"

"No need for special help. Just record what they did and then report back to me."

After thinking for a moment, Huai Nian added, "The villagers of Xincun don't need to pay too much attention to this; the focus should be on the old village chief and the outsiders."

"Understood." The white fox wagged its tail.

After waiting for a while, the snake gave no further instructions. It immediately leaped up, climbed onto a tree branch, and left as it had come.

Huai Nian watched it leave, and her heart, which had been hanging in suspense, finally found some peace. But just as she was relieved, a little sorrow arose again.

If a fox cannot see the textual transmission in ancient books, it means it lacks the qualifications recognized by those books.

In fifteen years, he only broke the shackles of life force; physical strength and blood were still a long way off, not to mention spiritual power and willpower.

"Let nature take its course," Huai Nian said, shaking her head.

The sun had already risen into the sky, and noon was approaching.

The gradually strengthening breath of the sun is slowly and irresistibly pulling the misty water vapor from the land back into the sky, displaying its domineering and unruly nature.

The giant serpent stretched out its body, its black scales opening and closing with a clanging sound as it moved, pressing itself tightly against the cold rock.

After obtaining the "Three Qi Transformation", the ability to create a Yin-Yang Qi vortex was etched into Huai Nian's very instincts.

The giant snake instinctively switched perspectives, and the colorful world before its eyes suddenly transformed into a hot and cold perspective.

The snake flickered its tongue, coiling and roaming between heaven and earth, allowing the pure, blazing essence of the sun to enter its body.

After breaking through the Life Qi barrier, demons are no longer limited to absorbing spiritual energy of a single attribute; they can choose spiritual energy from all directions at will.

However, most demons still choose relatively gentler powers such as Xuan Yin Yue Hua, Shan Chuan Ling Xi, and Dong Lai Zi Qi.

Few living beings can withstand the essence of the great sun, the turbid energy of the earth's mother, and the furious breath of heavenly thunder and earthly fire.

That makes sense.

With a small amount of essence entering his body, Huai Nian still felt good about himself.

After swallowing and spitting out the snake's tongue three times in a row, Huai Nian felt as if his throat had been covered with countless wounds carved by a knife.

Each time the essence passes through the throat, it feels like burning a wound with flames to stop the bleeding, causing excruciating pain.

Just as the scab had formed and was tightly connected to the new granulation tissue, it was violently torn open and sprinkled with fine salt.

"Are human cultivation methods this perverse?!" The giant snake convulsed and clenched in pain.

The rock, meant to alleviate the scorching heat of the sun, was gradually cracked by muscles imbued with terrifying power.

With a crisp crack, the black serpent's body embedded itself directly into the rock.

When the essence of the sun enters the body, the first step is to manifest its domineering and unruly nature.

Huai Nian's body temperature rose rapidly and uncontrollably, as if her body were a furnace.

One's own blood and vital energy are evaporated extremely quickly.

"I've swallowed and exhaled the essence of the sun three times, and this is my limit!" Huai Nian's eyes were bloodshot from the pain, and tears were about to fall.

Spiritual practice is like rowing against the current.

If I lose my essence and blood now, what if I happen to lack this essence and blood to fuel my breakthrough against the current in the future... then I will fall to a precipitous position!

The black serpent had no choice but to try its best to restrain the rampant sun essence in its body, while tightening all its scales and passageways, even closing its eyes and nostrils tightly.

Even if the evaporated blood vapor is not inside the body, but only locked in the outer skin, it still belongs to oneself.

Once it's pulled away by the sun's essence and rises into the sky to turn into clouds, it can never be found again.

The bluish-gray rock persisted for a long time, but was eventually crushed by the giant snake.

Huai Nian fell.

The enormous snake's body churned wildly in the muddy water, creating a scene resembling a black dragon stirring up trouble in a muddy sea.

His dark body was gradually stained red with blood vapor.

After a long while, noon passed, and then the hour of 1-3 PM passed.

The hour of Shen (3-5 PM) has arrived.

The clearing in the woods was in complete disarray, with muddy water everywhere.

Huai Nian finally digested the rampant essence of the sun, collapsed to the ground, and gasped for breath.

My first attempt at practicing "The Three Qi Return to Nature" yielded little result; the Qi vortex hadn't even taken shape yet.

I only received one piece of information.

The Yin Moon Essence within my body is not yet pure enough to rival the Sun Essence.

"I need to find a place where I can both condense the essence of the moon and suppress the essence of the sun..."