sinovels Chapter 35 Old Ghost, Wake Up!
Chapter 35 Old Ghost, Wake Up!
Xu Changqing watched Chi Mingzi's figure disappear into the corner of the corridor, listening to the light footsteps fading into the distance. He sat down cross-legged again in the quiet room, gently shaking his head at the half-open wooden door.
"My master is truly a free spirit."
He muttered to himself, flicked his sleeves, and lightly touched the blood-jade plaque at his waist with his fingertips. A faint light flashed, and several items fell onto the blue brick floor.
A jet-black thumb ring, a mutton-fat jade ring, and a water-patterned jade pendant. These three items are all storage containers, belonging to Jia Yu, Jade Fairy, and Yuan Hong respectively. Also spread out beside them are the Blood Sword, Painted Skin, Huang Laoguan's fur, Buddhist beads, Centipede Poison Beads, and other items, all looted by the Black Wind Mountain group.
Storage devices are still relatively rare among low-level rogue cultivators in this world, but they are commonplace for scions of aristocratic families and those from major sects. The blood jade square tablet that Xu Ming obtained from the Seven Fiends Path is of this kind.
He reached out and picked up the jet-black dragon-patterned thumb ring. The ring was icy cold to the touch, and the dragon pattern seemed to move within it.
His divine sense probed in, but was immediately blocked by a layer of restriction. Xu Changqing was not in a hurry. He separated a wisp of killing energy from his dantian, as thin as a needle, and slowly pierced it.
After about half an incense stick's time, with a soft pop, the restriction dissipated completely. A space about ten feet square was revealed, with about a hundred pieces of spirit jade neatly arranged, and the interior furnishings displayed the grandeur of a noble family.
A hundred or so low-grade spirit jade pieces were neatly arranged, gleaming brightly. Several white jade bottles were labeled with words such as "Rejuvenation Pill," "Soul Nourishing Powder," and "Dragon Blood Ointment."
There were also several jade slips and several sets of robes made of luxurious materials and with exquisite embroidery.
The most eye-catching item was a strange stone bead that was entirely black with faint dragon-shaped patterns, along with several oddly shaped spiritual materials next to it.
Xu Changqing used his divine sense to take out the spirit jade, pills, jade slip, and the dragon-patterned stone one by one, and placed them on the ground beside him.
He picked up the most ancient jade slip and immersed his consciousness into it. It was the "Blood Sea Return to Origin Dragon Demon Scripture" that Jia Yu had cultivated. The words were filled with murderous aura and explained how to refine blood evil and transform into a domineering demonic art. However, it was not complete and only contained content below the third realm.
The other jade slips contained a variety of miscellaneous observations, including geography, family information, and so on.
"As expected of a member of the former royal family, their family is indeed very wealthy." Xu Changqing's lips curled up slightly.
Then he picked up the jade ring. This time there was much less resistance, and his divine sense easily probed into it.
The interior was elegantly decorated, like a corner of a woman's boudoir, containing hundreds of spirit jades, two bottles of beauty-enhancing pills, a jade slip recording the "Mysterious Love and Desire Immortal Scripture," and several spiritual materials that shimmered with spiritual light and leaned towards femininity.
"The 'Scripture of Exquisite Passion and Desire': Severing passion and indulging in lust, engaging in intercourse to sow demonic seeds... Wow, so much knowledge! Not bad, not bad at all. I need to critique it properly..."
Xu Changqing scanned the jade slip, looking at the flowing colorful paintings inside that were comparable to 3D live-action animation, and murmured.
Finally, there's Yuan Hong's water-patterned jade pendant. The restriction wasn't difficult to set up either. Probing it with divine sense, I found mostly water-related items inside. The number of spirit jades was slightly less, but there were quite a few water-attribute spiritual materials.
The most significant item was the magical artifact Yuan Hong had used earlier. It was entirely bluish-gray and felt as heavy as iron. He channeled a wisp of magic power into it, and the staff trembled slightly, its scales swirling, and a low, deep ape howl faintly emanated from it, accompanied by a barely audible sound of the tides.
He weighed it in his hand for a moment, thinking to himself, "This magical artifact is made of abundant water elemental energy. It seems the White Bone Jade Hairpin has found it again. I wonder what changes it will undergo after absorbing it?"
The moment the thought crossed her mind, the white bone jade hairpin transformed into a giant water beast, which grumbled and swallowed several water-based spiritual objects.
Ignoring the joyful white bone hairpin, Xu Changqing turned his gaze to the scattered objects on the ground.
He extended two fingers and flicked the blood sword lightly. The crimson blade immediately shimmered with red light, and countless tiny, blood-red faces appeared and wailed, but were easily suppressed by the killing energy.
"Although the malevolent energy is heavy, it is impure and mixed, having drunk the blood of living beings and entangled with resentment." Xu Changqing frowned slightly. "It needs to be repeatedly tempered and cleansed to remove impurities and resentment, and then reforged into a weapon."
He set the blood sword aside and picked up the thin, gossamer-thin painted skin. It felt weightless in his hand, soft and cool, like the finest silk.
The skin shrank to the size of a palm, and the surface faintly revealed the sorrowful and pitiful face of a woman, with her eyebrows slightly furrowed and her eyes filled with sadness, lifelike.
Under Xu Changqing's calm gaze, the face seemed to shrink back slightly before fading and disappearing into the skin.
Xu Changqing unfolded it slightly and examined it carefully in the sunlight streaming in from the window. The skin was almost transparent, with an extremely fine texture. What caught his attention even more was that the inside of the skin was engraved with densely packed tiny characters in dark gold patterns.
He focused intently, and the first few words caught his eye: "The Thousand Transformations Immortal Demon Scripture".
"Created by the Thousand Transformations Demon Lord... peeling off human skin, changing skin to steal life, stealing form, seizing fortune, and finally shedding the mortal body to become a great demon..." Xu Changqing quickly skimmed through the opening outline, a hint of understanding flashing in his eyes, "It seems that the background of this Painted Skin Corpse is not simple, following such a bizarre path. It's a pity that they didn't learn the true teachings, only the superficial aspects, and ultimately failed to truly master the art."
He then picked up the fur left behind by Old Huang. The fur was glossy and smooth, yellowish-brown in color, soft and warm to the touch, and carried a faint scent, similar to the incense from an old temple.
"One is skilled in illusion and concealment, while the other can burrow underground and hide itself. Both belong to unorthodox methods of concealment and survival." He pondered for a moment, "Perhaps we can try to refine them together, supplemented with other spiritual materials, to create an unorthodox treasure that is dedicated to concealment, illusion, and burrowing underground."
The dark green poisonous bead left behind by the centipede boy was only the size of a pigeon egg. Its surface was uneven, but it emitted an unpleasant, sweet, and corrosive smell. Holding it in one's hand, one could feel wisps of sinister and malevolent energy trying to erode the protective magic power.
"Good stuff. If this had been added when refining the Nether Lotus Mystic Heart Incense, a whole group of demons could have been wiped out without needing to self-destruct the Nether Lotus Myriad Transformations Array."
Xu Changqing carefully put it away and placed it aside.
The Blood Monk's string of prayer beads was dark and heavy, with eighteen beads, each about the size of a longan, and engraved with indistinct Sanskrit characters. However, it had long been soaked in blood, losing its Buddhist purity and instead exuding an eerie heaviness.
Other items, such as fragments of horns, broken bones, and shards of damaged magical artifacts, are scattered and have no special use or value.
After checking and identifying everything, Xu Changqing gently exhaled a breath of stale air.
He closed his eyes and let his mind sink into his sea of consciousness.
"Old Ghost," Xu Changqing transmitted his thoughts, "wake up, wake up, we've got work to do."
The altar trembled slightly, and the patterns and light on its surface shimmered more rapidly.
Xu Changqing's lips curled slightly as he continued, "Quickly help me appraise these spoils of war, and I'll give you something good in a bit."
The altar remained silent for a moment, its patterns flickering and changing. Soon, several pieces of information appeared in Xu Changqing's mind.
"The Yin Dragon Heavenly Demon Stone is formed from the fusion of the remains of a five-realm demonic dragon and the ley lines of the Nether Sea. It has the effects of purifying demons, gathering evil spirits, and enhancing bloodlines, and is extremely rare."
Xu Changqing looked at the information coming from the altar and, combined with the spiritual materials in Jia Yu's ring, a thought struck him.
"This item is probably not the foundation-building spiritual object that Jia Yu prepared for himself."