One Pound Meat, One More Attribute Point

In the Esoteric Sect of Skull Plain, there has always been the practice of "Empowerment". Before a master passed away, he would transfer his accumulated mana into his disciple. The Heavenly Demon Transformation Technique that Su Heng now faced was derived from this very practice.

The difference was that it shifted from a passive to an active process.

By cultivating the Heavenly Demon Transformation Technique to a high level, one could seize the strength of others for personal use.

However, this cultivation technique had a limitation: the cumbersome forces of two different energies were incompatible, like water and fire. If they coexisted within the same body, it would cause chaos, making it very easy to lose control and perish in a self-explosion. Therefore, only two cultivators practicing the same lineage and source of strength could make this demonic technique effective.

For Su Heng, this technique seemed somewhat of a burden.

Moreover, he possessed an attribute panel and directly used the Bright Sun Divine Skill to plunder the essence from the flesh and blood of martial artists. By increasing his own physical body and accumulating attribute points, it was much better than this evil method. It was actually Solban who had secretly come here to learn this secret technique.

In such a turbulent era, his motives were worth contemplating.

"Could it be that Solban plans to make a move against those baldies of the Esoteric Sect?" Su Heng pondered momentarily, "Indeed, it is a possibility. After all, a great man born between heaven and earth should not languish beneath others for long."

The three great Esoteric Sects joined forces to breach the Cambrian Gate in the northern riverside province.

Moreover, this guy had quietly broken through to a realm above Heavenly Deceit without making a sound. He must have been harboring schemes, plotting something significant.

Su Heng looked down at the empty corridor outside the window, silent under the moonlight. He chuckled, his heart aflame with anticipation for his next encounter with Solban.

At that time, they would have to determine the victor.

A thousand thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant, but Su Heng’s steps did not falter.

He stepped forward and sat down cross-legged in front of the stele that recorded the "Tathagata’s Hidden Scriptures", beginning to deeply comprehend and cultivate the teachings.

This ancient stele was cast from the bones of a powerful demon. Remnants of the Chan (Zen) intent left by the successive high monks of Dharma King Temple lingered on it.

An ordinary person with an undeveloped cultivation might be brainwashed and converted to Buddhism after a prolonged viewing of its contents.

But Su Heng’s spiritual foundation was equally profound, and these Chan intents could not even make a ripple in his mind. He extracted the most essential principles from these scriptures and carefully comprehended them.

As the "Tathagata’s Hidden Scriptures" appeared on Su Heng’s attribute panel, a strange and ancient chant rose simultaneously.

Su Heng took a deep breath, a faint haze glowing in his eyes.

After more than a year of cultivation, he was finally about to tap into his spiritual potential and step into the realm of Heavenly Deceit.

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As Su Heng secluded himself for a breakthrough, at the same time in the ancient temple...

Elsewhere within the compound, among the rustling bamboo grove, two figures appeared under the blood-colored moonlight.

Within the bamboo grove, there was an ancient stone forest. Rough stone columns rose from the ground, inscribed with runes; some entwined with chains, hanging skulls. The breeze rustled, causing the skulls to collide and chime, creating an eerie sound like some strange wind chime, adding to the creepy ambiance of the surroundings.

"This is the place," a person spoke softly.

In the Great Zhou Dynasty, there were cultivators specialized in studying ley line formations called Heavenly Contract Masters, very rare and not known for combat prowess. But when combined with ley line formations, their powers could be unimaginable under certain circumstances.

The most top-tier among them could even alter a dynasty’s fate, their methods unfathomably potent, and because of this, their lineage was coveted and received with respect among all major forces.

Yu Qing was such a Heavenly Contract Master.

She was very young, not even a hundred years old, but within this lineage, her cultivation was already profound, even surpassing some of the older practitioners. Therefore, she was entrusted with a critical mission to secretly come to Dharma King Temple to decipher the formations left by the Golden Crow and unseal the demon god, releasing Marpa from his cage.

The blood-red moonlight and chilly wind penetrated deep into the bones.

Yu Qing wore a modest gray robe that clung to her body, outlining the contours of a mature woman’s figure. She had pale skin and although her facial features were not very distinguished, not as breathtaking as beauties like Qin Shunying or Li Hongxiu, her temperament was unique, carrying a strong scholarly aura with calm eyes that left a deep impression.

In her pale palm, she held a compass with its needle gently vibrating, pointing toward the stone forest full of hanging skulls.

"Distributed among the eight gates, stars create wonders; fiery English rules the heavens, the Golden Crow looks back."

Swish!

She silently recited the spell.

Then she flicked her finger forward, and a ray of light burst from her fingertip, falling into the stone forest.

"Pop!" A sound like that of a blooming flower was heard, an invisible ripple quickly swept across distorting the moonlight. The surrounding bamboo that made rustling sounds suddenly froze, plunging into silence. After a brief stagnation, a rumbling sound came with the ground shaking and cracks spreading as dark smoke rose.

An unmatched surge of heat was unleashed, and the ground began to collapse, quickly turning into a dark red pool of magma that violently bubbled, burping out gasses. The fires burning in the void cast a dark red glow on Yu Qing’s pale cheeks.

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"Is it over just like that?" Beside Yu Qing stood a young man in a Taoist robe, with average features and freckles on his face, his aura very ordinary. This young Taoist named Zhang Gu was Yu Qing’s disciple, who had just entered this lineage not long ago.

Yu Qing brought him here to broaden his horizons.

Zhang Gu was very young and of humble origin, and at this moment, he watched the scene before him with some unease. He clenched his fists, his expression somewhat somber, "I feel like we are doing something evil."

"How so?" Yu Qing’s face remained calm, neither guilt over releasing the demon god nor anger at her disciple’s questioning.

"More than two thousand five hundred years ago, the Corruption Demon God Marpa crossed the Mythical Battlefield and descended upon this realm. In just a few years, a once-prosperous kingdom was turned to wasteland. In the end, only with the life-sacrificing struggle of the divine beast Golden Crow was it successfully sealed, and now, we are..."

Zhang Gu shook his head, "Once the demon god breaks free, many people will die."

"You’re right, but this is an order from the Third Prince. He is the future ruler of this empire, and he has his own considerations in doing this," Yu Qing replied calmly.

"I don’t understand what sort of considerations would be based on such terms," Zhang Gu said stubbornly, watching the flames before him.

"Perhaps it’s a deal with some destructive force in the Eternal Heaven, or perhaps it’s to distract people with the turmoil caused by the demon god. The time the great emperor has left is running short, the Third Prince must break through as soon as possible, to possess the power to suppress everything."

Yu Qing shook her head, "Otherwise, once the God Demon Battlefield falls, that would be a true disaster for all living beings."

"You mean to say..." Zhang Gu recalled some rumors about the Third Prince, and considered his words, "we are sacrificing a small part for the sake of protecting the many."

"You could understand it that way," Yu Qing nodded slightly, "if thinking so makes you feel any better."

"I..." Zhang Gu shook his head, clearly unable to accept such logic.

Just then—Boom!

The magma lake, formed from a forest of stone spires, suddenly exploded.

A blood-red tentacle covered in suckers burst forth, as thick as an adult’s thigh, bringing with it a strong gust of wind, blurring with speed, almost indiscernible to the naked eye, and stabbed fiercely towards Yu Qing’s lower abdomen. This strike was extremely sharp, and without warning, and at such close range, even some of the Heavenly Deceit might not have been able to react in time.

But Yu Qing was prepared, with dense golden runes emerging around her. These runes, engraved in the void, shone brightly, incredibly hot.

Hiss!

A muffled sound.

The blood-red tentacle was repelled by the runes, and faint burn marks appeared on it.

An unpleasant smell of roasted meat lingered in the air, and the ground shook violently as if something was enraged.

"Incredible," Yu Qing’s face lost its calm, showing a hint of surprise. She took a deep breath and steadied herself, "After so many years, still not freed, yet capable of such power. It seems this demon god is much stronger than we initially suspected..."

"Hiss, the information from the Yiluan Bureau might be incorrect," Zhang Gu also realized something was amiss, his eyes wide in shock, "Whether it was intentional or a mistake."

"That’s not important; we need to leave quickly," Yu Qing said resolutely, urging him.

She waved her sleeve, extending her hand to gesture forward.

The ancient runes that floated around her fell like shooting stars, hovering over the stone forest, casting their light. As the situation above calmed down, Yu Qing turned to leave, while Zhang Gu, feeling the tremors from beneath the ground, panicked and did not dare to stay, hastily following behind his master.

The two left one after the other, and not long after—Boom!

A loud bang sounded.

A black and red column of smoke rose into the sky.

Amongst the flashing lightning and thunder, a smoky scene formed, with a massive face vaguely visible within it.

Yin winds howled, the twisted face filled with hatred and madness. It opened its mouth wide, roared, and then burst with a bang into black mist, spreading rapidly outward. Like a tangible darkness, it began to spread and corrode within the Esoteric Sect’s temple.

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Flapping!

In Qimu State, within a temporary base of the Yiluan Bureau,

The dappled tree shadows quivered, and a black crow with red eyes flew in through the window, landing on a shelf, and began grooming its feathers with its golden beak. A pale hand untied a scroll of secret message from the bird’s leg and quickly read through the content.

"It seems everything is going as planned," the general of the Yiluan Bureau, Jian Chuan, showed a satisfied smile, "Now, it’s time to reap the rewards."

"It’s time to tighten the net over Jiangbei State as well. The best doctor prevents illness, while the mediocre doctor treats impending illness. I, Jian Chuan, am not the best doctor, but being a capable old physician is more than enough," he mused, quite pleased with his schemes, even boasting to himself.

He swiftly wrote a secret message, tied it to the crow’s leg,

And then gave it a push with his hand.

Flapping!

The crow flapped its wings, turned into a mist of darkness, and swiftly flew away, disappearing under the sunlight…

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