Cultivation: Beginning with the Heart Reflecting Heaven and Earth

Most disciples of the Holy Land rarely interact with others and are considered to be aloof. Shen Chi is the most aloof of all, practically nonexistent, and has virtually no communication with others.

But as Mu Dong's voice faded, no one came out for a long time.

If Lu Qian hadn't witnessed a cloud of black energy shooting out of the corpse's chest, he probably would have thought the scene was an illusion. But since something like that happened, there must be something fishy going on.

Shen Chi possesses the Soul-Devouring Ghost Body, which does indeed offer some assistance in controlling corpses. However, if he can only control corpses, how can he use them to observe other people?

And it's the lowest-ranking earth-born corpse!

Lu Qian thought of the black mist from before, and the feeling of being watched. Could it be that the other party was observing them through that black mist?

"Shen Chi, I've confirmed it's you. Aren't you coming out?"

Seeing that everything around him was calm and there was no movement at all, Mu Dong became a little impatient. "You are cultivating the Nine Netherworld Soul Returning Secret Manual, which allows you to cultivate a Yin Demon during the Qi Refining stage."

"This Yin Demon is similar to your clone; not only can it cast the spells you've learned, but if you die, it can also possess your body and be reborn..."

As Mu Dong continued speaking, a person finally emerged slowly from the distant mist. He wore a black robe, his entire body completely covered, revealing only an excessively pale chin.

If it weren't for the fact that he walked relatively steadily and made almost no sound, he would have been no different from the corpses that could be found everywhere here.

Moreover, Lu Qian noticed that all the corpses that approached Shen Chi seemed to have encountered a natural enemy and fled in terror.

What was a danger to ordinary disciples of the Holy Land was as if it did not exist in front of Shen Chi. The corpses seemed to be terrified of him and did not even dare to get close, let alone attack him.

Shen Chi walked out alone, followed by a dense swarm of refined corpses. Among them were three that were clearly iron corpses, and their auras were much stronger than those of ordinary iron corpses. They followed him in an orderly fashion, looking like soldiers surrounding a general.

He looked at Mu Dong and asked, "How can you be sure it's me?"

His voice was somewhat dry, as if he hadn't spoken in a long time, and it also contained a certain coldness. It wasn't intentional; it was as if he was born this way, without a trace of body temperature, only a chilling coldness.

When Shen Chi did not appear, Mu Dong was on high alert.

When Shen Chi finally appeared, even with so many refined corpses following behind, Mu Dong relaxed and said calmly, "I like to see all sorts of random things, including descriptions of the Nine Netherworld Soul Return Manual. I thought of that when I saw that scene just now."

"Among the current disciples of the Holy Land, I don't think anyone else besides you would practice this technique."

In other words, although Mu Dong was only guessing, he already had a judgment in his mind.

The Nine Netherworld Soul Returning Manual is clearly not a righteous cultivation method. Indeed, only Shen Chi knows how to cultivate it because his physique is suitable for this type of cultivation method, so it wouldn't be surprising if he cultivated it.

After getting his answer, Shen Chi stopped paying attention to Mu Dong and turned to Lu Qian, asking, "How did you find out about me?"

"I saw many people come here in this way, but only Ye Lingyue became aware of my existence, and then it was you."

Mu Dong couldn't help but ask, "Ye Lingyue? She's here too? I haven't seen her."

Shen Chi nodded, his eyes flickering slightly beneath the black hood. "She must have come immediately after her training mission. Don't forget, she's ranked second among the Ten Talents of Canglan, only slightly behind Luo Wei. She's different from us!"

Even among disciples of the Holy Land, there are still different levels.

Those with dual spiritual roots who got in through connections are generally not considered true disciples of the Holy Land. Then there are ordinary Holy Land disciples, those with different spiritual roots, those with heavenly spiritual roots, those with special physiques, the Ten Sons of Canglan, and the most outstanding among the Ten Sons of Canglan!

Ye Lingyue ranks second among the Ten Talents of Canglan and also second on the Qi Refining Ranking of the Myriad Laws Battle Tower. She is only slightly inferior to Luo Wei in this generation, while the others are far inferior to her.

Moreover, unlike Luo Wei, Ye Lingyue comes from Yunxiao Palace and is extremely mysterious. Many people have only heard of her name but have never seen her.

Yunxiao Palace is relatively marginalized within the Holy Land, and Ye Lingyue is very low-key, so many people still don't know what she looks like.

Given Ye Lingyue's talent, which is second only to Luo Wei's, it's not surprising that she was able to arrive here a step ahead of everyone else.

Mu Dong was only curious about why he hadn't seen the other person; after the initial surprise, he naturally understood.

Seeing that Shen Chi was still waiting for his answer, Lu Qian didn't hide anything and said, "I have cultivated a special pupil technique that allows me to see some things."

Shen Chi was still waiting for Lu Qian's reply, but Lu Qian didn't say anything more. He frowned immediately, "How could ordinary eye techniques detect my Yin Demon?"

The Yin Demon is formless and intangible, and can hide without revealing any trace of its aura. Not to mention that Shen Chi has the Soul-Devouring Ghost Body, and this place is the Chaotic Burial Mountain Range. With so many favorable conditions, it is still hard for him to accept that he was still discovered.

Regardless, Lu Qian stopped there and didn't explain further. He couldn't reveal his secret, so he decided to leave it at that.

However, Lu Qian naturally had some guesses about how he could see through Shen Chi's demonic aura: "It must be the effect of Xing Tong's aura observation!"

In his spare time, he also tried to cultivate some Star Eyes, but he didn't feel anything particularly noticeable.

Looking back now, it seems that when Lu Qian noticed the strangeness of the zombie, he didn't see the true nature of the Yin Demon, but rather noticed the connection between the creature's energy and the distance, which is how he discovered the anomaly.

"I noticed something that even Mu Dong didn't; it must also have some of the auspicious/inauspicious-detecting effect of the Star Pupil!"

Lu Qian had many guesses in his mind, but he didn't intend to say any of them. They were his secrets to begin with, and there was no reason for him to tell others, so naturally he wouldn't say them.

If I absolutely had to say something, I could only tell specific people; I certainly couldn't tell Shen Chi these things.

Seeing that Lu Qian didn't intend to answer, Shen Chi just gave him a deep look, then turned and left.

A large group of swaying, rotting corpses followed Shen Chi and left as well.

If an ordinary person saw this scene, they would probably faint from fright.

Therefore, it is not without reason that the Soul-Eating Ghost Body is identified as a demonic constitution.

Lu Qian glanced around, about to speak, when Mu Dong turned to him and said, "You noticed something amiss, why didn't you use your true energy to transmit your voice?"

Mu Xue smiled and quickly said, "No one taught him, of course he won't know how to use it. But I'll teach him when we get back, right, Brother Lu?"

Seeing Mu Xue's smiling face, Lu Qian could only say, "I will study hard!"

Mu Dong sighed, "In the Holy Land, there's nothing to worry about, but coming here still requires some skill."

As soon as he finished speaking, Mu Dong didn't wait any longer and directly told Lu Qian the specific techniques for transmitting sound.

These things aren't difficult; they're just a little trick. Once you reach the mid-stage of Qi Refining, you can learn them quickly with a little effort.

Immediately afterward, Mu Dong used his true energy to transmit his voice, saying, "True energy transmission isn't omnipotent; it's easily detected by those with higher cultivation levels, who can hear the content. Some people with special methods can also intercept true energy transmissions, so be careful!"

Lu Qian quickly transmitted his thoughts using his inner energy, saying, "I understand!"

He was a little hesitant, but he got used to it quickly.

Mu Xue then joined in, speaking to the two of them, "What are you talking about? Let me hear too!"

Lu Qian then spoke up, "Of course I'm talking about Shen Chi. He wouldn't harm us, would he?"

Since Shen Chi had already gone far away, and the group was communicating through telepathy, they were not afraid of being overheard by Shen Chi and were completely unconcerned.

Mu Dong remained unconcerned. "No way! Attacking us won't benefit him at all. If even one of us escapes, he won't be able to get away with it. Even if one person doesn't escape, the people from the Holy Land will come here to investigate and get to the bottom of this. Then he won't be able to escape either!"

Mu Xue said softly, "What if he colludes with evil cultivators and is determined to leave the Holy Land?"

Lu Qian laughed. "Surely no one would be that stupid, right?"

What evil cultivation practice could compare to the benefits of a holy land?

Moreover, as unorthodox practitioners, they rarely appear openly and honestly, and often need to hide in unknown places.

Territories like the Western Continent, which are quite dangerous, have become refuges for many evil cultivators. When trouble comes, they can hide here and everything will be fine. But this is definitely not a comfortable place for people to stay.

Most importantly, betraying the Holy Land will certainly not be tolerated by the Holy Land; they will definitely send people to hunt you down!

So unless Shen Chi has lost his mind, he would never do anything that would arouse suspicion. On the contrary, he should avoid suspicion.

Two days later.

The three found a place to meditate when Mu Dong suddenly frowned and said, "Something's not right!"

Lu Qian immediately looked around but found nothing amiss. He asked疑惑地问道, "Something's wrong?"

Mu Dong stood up and vigorously patted his body. "Something's wrong with me. My flesh is being corroded, and my meridians feel numb. It seems to be due to the corrosive yin energy here! I've heard that if people stay here for too long, their bodies will stiffen and they'll become corpses!"

"I initially thought it was just a legend, but I didn't expect it to affect cultivators! Looks like I need to leave quickly!"

In the past few days, they have killed seven Iron Corpses. This time, they don't need to be busy looking for Iron Corpses anymore, and they have spent all their time recuperating.

Occasionally, powerful auras will approach, at which point you need to dodge, which will also take some time.

Overall, the speed of gaining battle merits may not have increased much, but it is much less troublesome and less tiring.

However, Mu Dong noticed something was wrong with himself and obviously needed to go back to adjust, and Lu Qian and Mu Xue had no objections.

However, Mu Dong seemed to have thought of something and looked at Lu Qian and Mu Xue suspiciously, "How come you two are alright?"

Lu Qian immediately said, "It's probably because I have some body-refining cultivation that I wasn't greatly affected!"

Mu Xue quickly added, "It should be related to my Earth and Water Spiritual Root; it makes me more resistant to this Yin energy!"

"Forget it, now's not the time to delve into these things. Let's go!"

Mu Dong sighed and chose a direction to leave. But when he looked back, he noticed that the gray-white mist behind him was churning. He was still puzzled. "There were no problems before, so why are there suddenly problems? Could it be that something has changed in the Burial Mountain Range?"

Lu Qian thought for a moment, then spoke up, "Isn't it said that there are evil cultivators deep in the Burial Mountain Range? These evil cultivators raise corpses in the Burial Mountain Range. If they find that many people are attacking their corpse-refining practices, they might react in some way, but that's not a big deal!"