Chapter 89

PS: The title of the previous chapter was incorrect; it should be "Out-of-Body Realm." Recently, I have been refining the outline and inadvertently made a mistake. Special thanks to the book friends who love and support the story.

In the midst of the high mountains and rugged terrain, a small grave was situated among a cluster of boulders.

About two zhang in circumference, it was constructed from scattered stones and reinforced with Daoist techniques. Though small, the grave took Zong Shou an entire night to complete.

In this remote mountainous area, there were many beasts that fed on corpses. Even if buried deep underground, they could still be dug up.

Zong Shou decided to use stones as a coffin, building a stone tomb to protect the body.

In the desolate mountains, there was nowhere to buy anything. There were no paper money or incense to be found, and he had not brought any useful items with him.

Zong Shou could only light two sandalwood incense sticks and, using materials from the surroundings, make a soul-summoning banner. He poured water in place of wine at the stone monument.

"Gong Xinran, though we have known each other for less than a day, I deeply admire your kindness and sincerity. Unfortunately, the world is unpredictable, and after our first meeting, we must part ways forever. Although this place is lonely, it has beautiful scenery, rich spiritual veins, and abundant yin energy, making it an excellent yin residence—"

As he spoke, Zong Shou suddenly felt something was amiss. He had initially thought this place was perfect, far from the Blood Valley and the only suitable place for hundreds of miles to bury a corpse.

But upon further reflection, the rich spiritual veins and abundant yin energy made it an ideal place to nurture a vengeful spirit or a sha corpse.

Given Gong Xinran's state before her death—

He had methods to deal with vengeful spirits, but to prevent a sha corpse, he would have to burn Gong Xinran's body.

Right, I remember there were two yin veins below, but was it four or five?

He had no compass to measure.

Zong Shou was suddenly drenched in cold sweat. He shook his head, thinking that this woman had already fulfilled her wish and would likely not return. Changing the burial site would be troublesome and time-consuming.

However, his tone changed, and he cleared his throat. "Senior Sister Xinran, rest assured. I will definitely deliver the martial scripture to your brother. In the future, your family will come to move you, and I will keep my word! May the ancient Buddha, the compassionate Daoist, and the boundless ink venerated one protect you, Senior Sister Xinran. Unfortunately, I don't remember the soul-summoning incantations of Buddhism and Daoism—"

He bowed slightly, completing the ritual. Zong Shou secretly smiled bitterly, thinking how useless he was, unable to protect even the woman this person loved.

If I had known, I should have followed her up the mountain. Even if I couldn't defeat Gao Yi at that time, I could have avoided the innate practitioner and protected Gong Xinran, saving her life.

With a sigh, Zong Shou looked at the golden, heavy book in his hand.

In addition to the medicine bottle, the killing of Gao Yi and the unnamed martial artist also yielded many medicinal pills for martial cultivators.

This martial scripture was also taken back.

However, Zong Shou was now full of doubts.

The martial scripture, according to legend, was personally written by three of the strongest martial saints of the Yunhuang era. It recorded 140 martial arts techniques and the basic martial insights of the three saints. It was regarded as a classic by all martial practitioners.

It is said that the three saints wrote this scripture to spread the martial arts widely in the Cloud Realm, allowing all commoners to practice advanced martial techniques.

Now, the total number is less than 200, and it has always been controlled by major families, which is far from the original intention of the three saints.

However, in later generations, most of the content of this scripture has been spread, except for some parts that remain secret.

"Did Gao Yi spend two years just for this copy of the martial scripture? Could there be some hidden secret in this book?"

Zong Shou felt a slight excitement, but upon further reflection, it seemed plausible.

Even as a copy, for a newly rising family, it could be considered a valuable martial treasure.

He had read this book in his previous life. In the Qiantian Mountains, there was also a more complete version of the martial scripture.

Zong Shou did not want to delve into the secrets and directly put it into his waist pouch, feeling the weight increase.

"Without the spatial ring from the future, it's really troublesome—"

Thinking it was still not right, Zong Shou picked up a sword and began to draw a talisman array around the stone tomb.

These were cleansing talismans, which he had learned very little of in his previous life. He studied talismans to understand the great principles of heaven and earth and the laws of spiritual energy, which greatly benefited his martial arts and sword techniques. He even created a sword technique for this purpose.

However, he had not really delved into the talismans for suppressing vengeful spirits and cleansing yin energy.

He勉强completed the talisman array, but his brows remained furrowed. This array, which he had seen by chance in his previous life, was said to be very effective in suppressing vengeful corpses. He was now drawing it based on vague memories.

"Something seems off, but the yin energy has already sunk. It shouldn't become a yin sha place, right?"

He rubbed his chin, uncertain, and irresponsibly shook his head, no longer caring.

In any case, it would take at least 99 years to form a sha corpse. At worst, he could have the Gong family move her in a couple of years.

Just a moment later, a slim and graceful figure appeared in the distance, standing on the head of a giant lion, rapidly approaching.

From over twenty zhang away, she leaped into the air and landed beside Zong Shou.

"Young Master, I have burned the bodies as you instructed and scattered the ashes on Corpse Demon Mountain. As for Gao Yi, he is likely already in the bellies of those fierce beasts—"

At this point, Chuxue looked at the tombstone, her eyes filled with sadness. "This Sister Xinran is truly pitiful. In the netherworld, she will likely regret meeting this person with a human face but a beast's heart—"

Zong Shou did not entirely agree. As the saying goes, "Possessing a treasure invites disaster." With the martial scripture, even without Gao Yi, Gong Xinran would likely still have lost her life.

He shook his head and looked at the shadow lion. The giant lion's eyes were full of pleading. He frowned. "Why did you bring it here?"

Chuxue immediately looked dejected. "This lion insists on following me, and I can't shake it off. Should I drive it back, Young Master?"

Zong Shou recalled Chuxue riding the lion and felt a bit frustrated. He thought, "Well, the shadow lion is not the best choice for a mount, but having an innate spirit beast is still beneficial."

"Never mind! Since the bodies have been dealt with, we can head back. Open your mouth! Ah—"

Chuxue, confused, also said "Ah." Then she felt a small red pill being placed in her mouth.

"Young Master!"

Chuxue was about to complain and spit out the pill, but she tasted a sweet flavor. She tried chewing it and found it to be fragrantly sweet, so she swallowed it without thinking.

"So sweet! What is this, Young Master? It's so fragrant—"

Zong Shou smiled and leaped onto the lion's back.

"What else could it be? It's naturally the Human Essence Pill!"

Chuxue's body stiffened, and she stood frozen in place. After a long while, seeing Zong Shou and the scythe-tailed lion moving farther away, she hurriedly caught up.

Not long after the two left, a massive bolt of lightning struck the sky above the stone tomb, and countless dark clouds gathered.

The ground around the tomb suddenly split into nine cracks, each about a zhang wide, spreading out and converging at the grave.

The three characters "Gong Xinran" on the stone monument began to drip with blood.

@.

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