Night of Despair

Another part of Wanxue Palace.

Yu Xuezi walked slowly, passing through some desolate corridors.

Unknowingly, he arrived in front of a pavilion with two statues of dragon turtles.

Above the pavilion, a plaque bore three characters: Longevity Hall.

Standing alone, Yu Xuezi looked up at the plaque.

"Seeing Yu Hu's progress, once he completes Qi Cultivation, I can bestow upon him a Taoist name. I must prepare the formal apprenticeship gift first."

He stepped inside.

"And Bai Sheng and Hei Ying's cultivation elixirs are almost used up, time to get new ones... and also bring a set for Yu Hu...."

Mumbling to himself, he ascended the stone steps, crossed between the two dragon turtle statues, and entered the pavilion.

The grand doors of the pavilion were long ruined, fallen to the ground, with the interior walls everywhere covered in thick, writhing red flesh.

The entire great hall was like a warehouse, with black containers marked with names scattered everywhere.

Yu Xuezi, unfazed by the fleshy walls, navigated skillfully through the piles of boxes to reach the core area.

At the core of the hall, numerous dark red tendrils extended from the walls, wrapping layer upon layer around the racks filled with elixirs on the ground.

There were a total of twelve racks, each filled with various bottles of elixirs.

Amidst these racks, a withered figure floated silently in mid-air.

The figure was garbed in a pale yellow Daoist robe, the robe in tatters, exuding an aura of decay and senescence.

His hair was completely white, the brittle strands devoid of any luster, hanging down to obscure his face.

Though this figure was so conspicuously floating in the middle of the racks, Yu Xuezi seemed not to see him as he passed by, muttering, searching for suitable elixirs for his disciples.

"Found them! Nourishing Pills! One bottle for Bai Sheng, one for Hei Ying, and since Yu Hu has good aptitude, two bottles..."

Not long after, Yu Xuezi approached a rack and, looking satisfied, picked up a palm-sized white jade porcelain bottle.

He unstoppered it and poured it slightly, revealing a gray worm egg that seemed to quiver as if alive.

He sniffed it. "How peculiar, the scent of these elixirs seems odd this time..."

But without much thought, he quickly collected four bottles and prepared to leave.

Unnoticed, the rack where these porcelain bottles sat had been largely overtaken by dark red flesh.

Elixirs in hand, Yu Xuezi turned to leave.

Suddenly, his body trembled slightly.

"Why do I remember the scent of the Nourishing Pill differently?"

He frowned, turning back, scrutinizing the rack.

Slowly, part of the flesh on the rack bulged, as if alive, lifting the contaminated bottles to him.

Yu Xuezi reached out to take them.

But a trace of pain and struggle suddenly flickered across his face.

"I hope I must not... the Nourishing Pill... isn't like this..."

His eyes bloodshot, thin red lines seeped from the corners, trailing down his cheeks, dripping to the ground.

Immediately, the flesh on the racks began to writhe as if detecting a delectable delicacy, extending tendrils to absorb his dripping blood.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Yu Xuezi returned the four bottles he had previously taken and hesitated a moment before reaching for a few bottles untouched by the flesh.

Holding the porcelain bottles, he turned to leave.

Whoosh!

Suddenly, a fleshy tendril shot forth from the withered figure in mid-air, aggressively targeting the untainted bottles in his hand.

But Yu Xuezi seemed aware, raising his right hand to deftly block the tendril's assault.

The blocked tendril entwined his arm, turning and merging into his skin, vanishing.

Unperturbed, Yu Xuezi carried the bottles and slowly walked away.

His actions seemed to provoke the withered, white-haired figure in mid-air.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Two more large tendrils shot out, fiercely striking at the porcelain bottles in Yu Xuezi's hand, only for him to swiftly shift, using his body to shield them.

The tendrils struck Yu Xuezi's body.

Bang!!

Yu Xuezi's body was pierced through, decaying, foul-smelling blood gushing from the two bloody holes in his abdomen. Tendrils delved into the wounds.

Soon, tendrils extracted from the wounds two organ-like objects before retreating.

Yet Yu Xuezi remained oblivious, merely swaying slightly as he left, content with his four bottles.

The blood holes on his body quickly healed over time.

But his skin appeared even paler than before.

Inside the Longevity Hall, the floating withered figure remained silent, unmoving, like a corpse.

Yet one hand, at some unknown time, tightly gripped a thick black-red tendril protruding from his chest.

His skeletal hand held the tendril firmly, preventing it from taking flight again.

"Yu Xue... junior martial brother..."

"Live... live on...."

The whisper-thin voice of the figure fell silent, gradually vanishing.

*

*

*

Book Collection Pavilion.

Yu Hong looked at rows upon rows of towering bookshelves, densely packed, and couldn't help but gasp.

Each of these bookshelves was over twenty meters long, laden with countless books.

The books were uniformly wrapped in pale yellow binders, with neat black titles written along the edges.

The sizes varied greatly, some thick, some thin, some large, some small. At a glance, there might well be tens of thousands, forming this so overwhelming a sight.

Yu Hong took a deep breath and eagerly stepped forward.

But...

Cough, cough, cough...

He started coughing violently.

The deep breath resulted in inhaling a great deal of dust.

The air within the pavilion was thick with inexplicably odorous white dust.

"What the hell!?"

Yu Hong expelled his Inner Strength, creating a strong airflow that swept all the dust out from the doorway.

Countless white dust particles gathered into a constantly morphing gray ball, encased in the airflow, skimmed past Yu Hong, and splashed into the black soil in the garden with a thud.

Having done this, Yu Hong surveyed the scene, then waved his hand again.

Expelling Inner Strength, stirring the air.

Boom, boom, boom, boom.

All the windows flung open.

Light from outside streamed in, bringing fresher air.

Yu Hong nodded in satisfaction and started examining the bookshelf labels.

History, Astronomy, Geography, Essays, Medicine, Arts, Secret Techniques, Mortal Martial, True Martial, Immortal Martial.

One after another, the labeled bookshelves flashed before Yu Hong's eyes.

Finally, he paused before the last four bookshelves.

Secret Techniques, Mortal Martial, True Martial, Immortal Martial.

Starting with the Secret Techniques.

He reached out and pulled out a booklet titled Heavenly Number Secret Technique from a pile.

He flipped through it.

'Heavenly Number Secret Technique: a special skill born from our sect's ancestors, inspired by machine civilization, to swiftly calculate an opponent's weakness during combat through the esoteric theories contained within numbers.'

'Resources needed for cultivation: Yellow Phoenix Pill, Golden Energy Pill, Seven Skill Pills, unlimited quantity.'

'Cultivation time: 137 years to 189 years.'

"....so long...." Yu Hong frowned, putting it back, and picked out another book.

'Earth Tunneling Secret Technique: unlike ordinary Earth Tunneling Techniques, this one far surpasses ordinary ones in speed and technique initiation. Contributed to the collection by Chang Yuanzi at the age of 721 from Qinghe Mountain.'

'Resources needed for cultivation: ten pairs of Heavenly Horse hoofs, unlimited Black Pine Pill.'

'Cultivation time: 98 to 211 years.'

"...." Yu Hong felt exasperated, leafing through several more Secret Techniques, the shortest requiring at least eighty years....

Though the abilities of the Secret Techniques looked very enticing, yet....

To gain traits, it seemed only those with lower difficulty would be suitable for him.

Yu Hong skimmed through the True Martial shelf and saw similar timescales, often ranging from hundreds to thousands of years.

The Immortal Martial shelf was even more exaggerated; flipping through dozens, the cultivation required thousands to tens of thousands of years, with one stretching to 560,000 years to achieve minor progress....when would he ever gain any traits?

Yu Hong decisively returned to the most plain, ordinary Mortal Martial shelf...

"You still suit me best," he sighed.

He no longer doubted the level of Qinghe Mountain. Just looking at these cultivation manuals showed this power's unimaginable level.

Without making hasty choices, Yu Hong began checking books one by one from the bottom of the Mortal Martial shelves.

Within the Mortal Martial shelves, there were further subdivisions into movement, offensive, defensive, Inner Strength, external power, weapons, etc.

He started with the defensive category first.

The first book at the bottom shelf was...

'Shoushan Eight Skills.'

Yu Hong opened the book, skimmed directly to the cultivation time.

'Eight years, not bad!'

He breathed a sigh of relief, accepting this time, especially with the help of the Black Mark to shorten it.

Continuing to read.

'Shoushan Eight Skills distill the lifetime martial expertise of Shoushan Taoist into eight defensive techniques and eight martial strikes. When deployed, the skin's strength and flexibility are enhanced eightfold, enduring attacks from experts two realms higher in practical combat. Without equivalent peer-level arts, ordinary techniques cannot draw near effective range.'

Yu Hong reviewed the technique, which in essence were eight different Moving Stances, combined with meditative baths, internal ingestion, and mental visualization, for simultaneous practice.

He wasn't especially interested in the effect of the cultivation technique, focusing instead on what kind of traits could be cultivated.

For at his current Inner Strength level under the Chaotic God Heavenly Eye Skill, such cultivation techniques had long lost practical value.

Not being picky, he collected the booklet and promptly left the Book Collection Pavilion.

He soon returned to the Black Black Spirit.

Yu Hong began gathering all the resources needed for cultivation, seeking out Yu Xuezi, Bai Sheng, and Hei Ying for what was lacking.

Within two days, all medicinal materials were gathered.

While the Mining Star was largely desolate, it still harbored some regions abundant with forests, herbs, and whatnot. Bai Sheng simply took a spaceship trip, acquiring whatever was needed.

With the medicinal bath ingredients prepared, he then used the Black Mark to enhance, boosting efficacy, and reducing cultivation time.

Yu Hong's daily life gradually found a rhythm, primarily focusing on practicing the Qingyuan Heavenly River Miao Technique, and after completing fundamental tasks, dedicating his energy entirely to cultivating the Shoushan Eight Skills. Meanwhile, the Chaotic God Heavenly Eye Skill was temporarily let to evolve naturally through Tao Breath Circulation.

Thus, after a full week....

Bang, bang! Bang!

On the clearing outside the Black Black Spirit, Yu Hong spun and maneuvered, swinging his fists with marvelous arcs, striking a stone wall, but resulting in triple echoes.

Completing the move, he gathered energy, regulating his breath.

"At last, the final technique of the Shoushan Eight Skills is complete." With all eight Moving Stances mastered at an elementary level, the next step is perfecting, mastering, achieving small completion through medicinal baths, culminating in major completion with the accretion of time, essence qi, and medicinal power.

Yu Hong exhaled.

Elementary, proficient, mastery, small completion, major completion—these epitomized the levels of this martial prowess.

Indeed, a very simple and conventional classification method.

"Having honed the techniques, it's time for the medicinal bath."

He promptly poured the prepared herb powders into a large tub, then gestured to draw cold water from the Black Black Spirit's cooling system, allowing ample warm water to flow in.