Chapter 18

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The cold wind eroded the body, and the Mystic Yin Cave was like a hellish furnace, tormenting both the flesh and the spirit of those within.

The blood and qi were in chaos, hard to subdue!

However, Su Qinnian did not believe in such evil. In such a cold environment, the spiritual energy in his Ancestral Aperture seemed to come alive, as if it had gained a kind of consciousness, showing signs of autonomous recovery and seeping into his skin, muscles, and bones.

Buzz!

Then, an invisible wave emerged from Su Qinnian's body. In the eastern part of the Ancestral Aperture, two star points appeared, responding to each other like two prominent horns, and Su Qinnian's aura suddenly changed.

If Su Qinnian had previously been sharp and fierce, now he exuded an ancient and沧桑 (weathered) aura, with a hint of domineering and prominent qualities, as if he had been tempered over a long period of time.

This change in aura was granted to Su Qinnian after he completed the first level of the "Mihun Great Technique." When he reached the fourth level of the "Turtle Snake Skill," he pushed through to the second star point, and the first star position was truly activated on that day.

His spiritual energy, now several times stronger than before, had advanced in the art of subduing the soul, and various wonders had emerged. As he delved deeper into the "Mihun Great Technique," the passage of time made Su Qinnian increasingly aware of its profound and intricate nature. It was hard to imagine what it would be like to reach the fifteenth level.

At this moment, Su Qinnian channeled his spiritual energy into every inch of his body, and the originally chaotic blood and qi were immediately subdued and controlled, becoming compliant. They began to flow and circulate with the movements of the "Turtle Snake Skill," reaching every corner of his body.

From the first level to the fourth level of the "Turtle Snake Skill," although the practice was much slower inside the Mystic Yin Cave compared to outside, when Su Qinnian completed the fourth level, the movements naturally progressed to the fifth level.

Half an incense stick later.

With intense consumption of his physical blood and qi, and a feeling of hunger in his stomach, Su Qinnian stopped his movements. At this point, his body was steaming hot, his muscles rosy, his blood boiling, and he felt a faint tingling sensation from his 206 bones.

"How fast!"

Unable to resist a deep breath, Su Qinnian's eyes showed intense excitement. The chaos of blood and qi was a torment, but once subdued, the cold wind continued to erode his body, constantly pressing down. As he advanced in the "Turtle Snake Skill," the speed at which his blood and qi were refined and permeated increased dramatically, almost several times faster than usual. Even if the practice time was longer, the effect was still more than twice that outside the Mystic Yin Cave.

"For other convicts who have not yet established their foundation, this place is a place of punishment and suffering, but for me, with my spiritual energy to subdue and control the blood and qi, this has become a treasure ground for practice!"

Su Qinnian looked deeper into the wind tunnel. Even though it was darker and the cold wind was more piercing and fierce compared to his current position, in Su Qinnian's eyes, this would be the place where he would make rapid progress.

The three-day Mystic Yin Cave, with three servings of demon tiger meat provided each day, and even more than double the usual amount, not to mention the need to gather herbs in the mountains, Su Qinnian almost wanted to stay here forever. However, he soon shook his head, gathered his thoughts and distractions, and realized that while he could not fully know all the mysterious martial arts in the empire, as a member of the imperial martial arts library, he knew that martial arts involving spiritual energy were few and far between. The collection in the imperial martial arts library was also very precious, stored in the inner treasury, and could not be easily borrowed without an imperial decree.

...

At noon, Su Qinnian walked out of the wind tunnel and saw a basket already prepared on the ground, containing two large bowls of steaming demon tiger meat soup, even more than the usual two servings.

Looking to the side, he saw two other empty baskets, indicating that the other two had already taken theirs. Su Qinnian hunched his back, his eyes lifeless, picked up the two bowls of demon tiger meat soup, and returned to the cave.

In the wind tunnel.

Su Qinnian lowered his head and sniffed the soup, then sneered. He then opened a package he had prepared, revealing several crystal-clear, snow-white winter lotus roots.

After consuming two winter lotus roots and two large bowls of demon tiger meat soup, Su Qinnian felt a burning sensation all over his body, as if filled with boundless energy. He began practicing again, advancing steadily through the fifth level of the "Turtle Snake Skill."

Three days later.

In the dark cave, at the position where Su Qinnian had been, only a faint pair of footprints could be seen.

Ten feet inside the wind tunnel.

The cold wind howled like knives and swords. Su Qinnian's punches, like a resurrected divine turtle, were full of ancient and profound power. The collision of his fists with the cold wind produced a booming sound.

At the peak of his practice, Su Qinnian's body was filled with the sound of cracking bones, like a string of firecrackers lit during the New Year's festival, one after another.

Practicing bones like lighting firecrackers, a continuous line to the sky!

Whoosh!

A surge of hot blood erupted, and Su Qinnian's final punch broke through the air, distorting the air behind him. A fiery red horse, half-real and half-illusory, broke free from the constraints of time and space, charging out and colliding with a mountain wall along with Su Qinnian's fist.

Bang!

Debris flew, and the solid mountain wall, eroded by the cold wind, left a fist mark an inch deep under Su Qinnian's punch.

After finishing his practice, Su Qinnian took a long breath, which lasted for half a cup of tea before gradually subsiding.

"This is the power of a fierce horse, equivalent to the seventh level of the widely practiced 'Horse Shape Fist,' with 490 pounds of strength!"

Su Qinnian felt a bit nostalgic. Less than a month ago, he was only at the second level of the "Horse Shape Fist," and even after nearly a year of hard practice, he never imagined that being imprisoned and coming to Wudang Mountain's Xianxia Valley would bring him so many opportunities. He had advanced to the fifth level of the famous "Turtle Snake Skill" in a short time, something he would never have dared to imagine in his stable life before.

"However, the fifth level of the 'Turtle Snake Skill' is not yet complete, and there is still some way to go. The final key has not been understood. Otherwise, the power of a fierce horse should have immediately reached its peak and burst forth, rather than needing to gather for a moment as it does now."

Su Qinnian frowned. As his "Turtle Snake Skill" advanced, the deeper he went, the more human mysteries it involved. Many times, even with spiritual energy to perceive the subtle, he could not immediately understand and needed to carefully ponder to gradually grasp it.

Now, Su Qinnian realized that he seemed to have reached a bottleneck. The complete fifth level of the "Turtle Snake Skill" would not be easily achieved. Spiritual energy was not omnipotent, and the years of reading classics and scriptures, as well as the year of studying Daoist and Buddhist texts, were gradually running out.

Outside the Mystic Yin Cave.

Daoist Jingdu looked at the darkening sky, waiting for the thick mountain mist to reveal a hint of the evening glow. Finally, footsteps echoed from inside the cave.

The footsteps were disordered, lacking the steadiness and composure of before.

Two young figures, supporting each other, appeared, their faces pale, lips blue, eyes lifeless, and hair disheveled, even frozen and curled, with ice chips.

"Seen... seen the... the warden."

Seeing Daoist Jingdu outside the cave, the two young men's voices trembled. Even with the third level of the "Turtle Snake Skill," the three days in the Mystic Yin Cave had almost been too much for them. The torment of the cold wind had left them mentally and physically exhausted, their spirits weakened.

After a dozen breaths, they shakily took two bowls of tiger bone soup, and after drinking more than half a bowl, they felt a bit better, their faces gradually regaining some color, and their spirits slightly revived.

Then, they looked back at the entrance of the Mystic Yin Cave, their eyes filled with fear and a bit of curiosity, wondering if Su Qiniang was still alive. Over the three days, they could only guess from the empty food baskets that the depressed and disabled young man was still barely surviving.

They didn't have to wait long. Half a cup of tea later, weak footsteps echoed from inside the cave, floating and unsteady but steadily approaching.

He's really still alive!

The two young men exchanged glances, both surprised. They had thought that with only the second level of the "Turtle Snake Skill" and a weak body sustained by only one serving of demon tiger meat soup a day, Su Qiniang would not be able to survive. (Please vote, please vote, please vote, the most desired thing said three times, and also add to your favorites! For the new book ranking, veteran readers understand, Ten Steps doesn't need to explain, everyone come and vote, let Chunya rise higher with real strength.)