Chapter 42: My Home

Chu Hongshang successfully became Shi Xueyan’s Disciple, and under Chen Yuan’s manipulation, the plot returned to its original starting point.

The only change might be the Wang Family of Nanshan City.

This time, Chen Yuan pulled the Wang Family out to be a target, almost scaring them to death.

Some Jianghu People heard the conversation between Shi Xueyan and Chu Hongshang, and it even spread.

At the same time, someone recognized Shi Xueyan’s identity, and the Wang Family panicked instantly.

They hadn’t expected that Chu Hongshang wouldn’t die, while the Zhu Family was destroyed first.

Moreover, Chu Hongshang had become Shi Xueyan’s Disciple and joined the Wanmo Sect.

She held such deep hatred for the Wang Family; when her cultivation achieved something in the future, wouldn’t that be the day the Wang Family was exterminated?

So, after several months of panic, the Wang Family decided to flee the Beihai Market, even changing their names and surnames, abandoning their ancestors.

Of course, these are stories for later.

The matters at Beihai Market came to an end, but Chen Yuan did not leave.

He prepared to Cultivate the “Inner Landscape Divine Art” to first resolve the hidden danger of the uncontrolled Blood Fiend Force.

There was still a month before the Demon Sealing Conference began, so Chen Yuan had plenty of time to prepare.

The “Inner Landscape Divine Art” was very peculiar; it wasn’t an Internal Skill, nor was it a Martial Skill. Strictly speaking, it should be considered a secret technique for developing one’s own potential.

The core philosophy of the Zaohua Dao Sect was to control one’s own creation, and then use oneself to control the creation of heaven and earth.

The outside world is the macrocosm, while the human body is the microcosm.

The human body is incredibly profound. The Upper Dantian is at the top of the head, called the Shengyang Mansion or Kunlun Summit. It is where the Spirit Terrace Mysterious Gate is located, the Spiritual Root of heaven and earth, and the Sea of Consciousness.

The Middle Dantian is located at the Shanzhong, extending twelve levels down from the Chengjiang to the Yellow Court. The Five Viscera and Six Bowels each perform their duties, serving as the foundation of the human body.

The Lower Dantian is below the navel, called the Qi Sea, the place where life is stored. It is where the water and fire of the heart and kidneys meet, where the Dragon and Tiger converge, governing the balance of Yin and Yang, and is the location of the Mysterious Gate of Life and Death.

The Zaohua Dao Sect believed that most people cannot escape birth, old age, sickness, and death simply because they are muddled and have not truly mastered the mysteries of their own bodies.

Therefore, to Cultivate the “Inner Landscape Divine Art,” one must Cultivate their own body as if it were a ‘god,’ completely mastering the microcosm within.

Supplemented by the “Emperors Qi Observation Technique” to Master the creation of heaven and earth, one could break through the Mysterious Gate of Life and Death, achieve the state of Indestructible Godhood, and live forever.

After carefully studying the “Inner Landscape Divine Art,” Chen Yuan was convinced of the first half, but the part about Immortality at the end was a bit exaggerated.

Even in ancient times, the legendary powerful gods and demons could not achieve Immortality.

How many outstanding Prodigies in this Jianghu eventually turned into a handful of yellow soil?

That so-called Immortality was merely a goal the Zaohua Dao Sect wanted to achieve, but in the end, even if their lineage went extinct, no one could accomplish it.

After officially starting to Cultivate the “Inner Landscape Divine Art,” Chen Yuan finally understood why the Zaohua Dao Sect’s lineage eventually went extinct.

Because the threshold for Cultivating this thing was too high!

The first step, internal visualization of the upper, middle, and Lower Dantian, required extremely high Comprehension Ability.

Then, visualizing the inner landscape and its gods to Master the mysteries of the Physical Body step by step required the cultivator’s spirit to be unprecedentedly strong.

Otherwise, one wrong step could easily lead to disordered Meridians and Qi Deviation.

Fortunately, Chen Yuan’s body had amazing natural talent and Comprehension Ability, which allowed him to Cultivate the “Inner Landscape Divine Art”.

The ancestors of the Chu Family were Disciples of the Zaohua Dao Sect, but they probably couldn’t Cultivate the “Inner Landscape Divine Art” either; otherwise, the Chu Family wouldn’t have fallen into such a state.

It’s actually not a good thing for a Cultivation Technique’s starting point to be so high, as it makes it difficult to be passed down through a Legacy.

Whether it’s Sects or aristocratic families in the Central Plains Jianghu, their Cultivation Techniques, through generations of inheritance and research, go from simple to complex, with a low floor and a high ceiling.

Such Cultivation Techniques are suitable for top major powers to use as Legacy techniques.

Otherwise, no matter how powerful a Cultivation Technique or secret technique is, if only one or two people out of thousands in a Sect can Cultivate it, it’s easy for the inheritance to be broken.

The Zaohua Dao Sect’s techniques were like this; the starting point was too high.

If it were in the Central Plains, they could still rely on a large population base to find Disciples with good talent.

But in overseas lands, the population was sparse and separated by islands, making it even harder to find Disciples. Thus, the Zaohua Dao Sect’s lineage gradually went extinct, and its descendant Disciples chose to return to the Central Plains.

However, although the “Inner Landscape Divine Art” had a high threshold, its effects were extremely miraculous.

After only one day of Cultivation and reaching the initial entry level, Chen Yuan felt his control over his body increase greatly.

Both his five senses and explosive power had improved significantly.

Moreover, when he triggered his killing intent again and the Blood Fiend entered his body, he could gradually control that boiling blood and Qi to suppress the Blood Fiend, rather than being driven by it to frantically burn his blood and Qi.

Previously, Chen Yuan could only maintain the Blood Fiend in his body for five breaths; now, it was about thirty breaths.

This was only the absolutely safe time; if he were truly in a desperate fight, the Blood Fiend would not lose control within a hundred breaths and could be suppressed afterward.

However, beyond thirty breaths, his Meridians would suffer some damage because they couldn’t withstand the violent Blood Fiend.

As his mastery of the “Inner Landscape Divine Art” gradually deepened, Chen Yuan would sooner or later be able to completely control the Blood Fiend Force brought by the seven killing stele.

Chen Yuan also swallowed and refined the Extreme Condensation Qi Pill he had looted from the Zhu Family.

This kind of Medicinal Pill produced by a top major Sect had almost no side effects. Its medicinal power entered the body silently, smoothly expanding and strengthening his Internal Energy.

After several cycles of Cultivation, Chen Yuan’s Internal Energy and True Qi surged instantly. With the aid of the Medicinal Pill, he directly stepped into the Middle Stage of the Foundation Establishment Realm.

“This ‘Inner Landscape Divine Art’ is truly worthy of being a Heaven-Grade existence.”

Chen Yuan let out a long breath and sighed with emotion.

Although he reached the Middle Stage of the Foundation Establishment Realm this time by relying on the Medicinal Pill, the “Inner Landscape Divine Art” actually played the biggest role.

The Extreme Condensation Qi Pill had an excellent effect on Martial Artists in the Blood Moving Realm, but for those in the Foundation Establishment Realm, it was only used for daily auxiliary Cultivation and couldn’t raise a minor Realm with just one pill.

Chen Yuan broke through because the “Inner Landscape Divine Art” allowed him to initially Master the mysteries of his Physical Body.

He already knew the operating laws of his Meridians and Acupoints like the back of his hand, which was equivalent to re-developing his own potential, making his physical strength feel somewhat empty.

Thus, after taking one pill to fill this void of power, he naturally stepped into the Middle Stage of the Foundation Establishment Realm.

Although this secret technique couldn’t directly increase power and had no lethality,

as long as one reached the entry level and mastered the mysteries of the Physical Body, both Cultivation speed and mastery of other Martial Skills would surge significantly.

After stabilizing his Realm, Chen Yuan then set off for the Demon Sealing Valley to prepare for the Demon Sealing Conference.

The Cultivation of the “Inner Landscape Divine Art” couldn’t be achieved overnight; Chen Yuan’s initial entry was enough for now.

The rest required daily internal visualization, developing the mysteries of the human body, and gradually mastering the inner landscape’s gods. Once it reached Major Achievement, the loss of control of the Blood Fiend would no longer occur.

Three days after Chen Yuan left the Beihai Market, five Jianghu People wearing golden brocade robes and golden feather phoenix crowns appeared in the Beihai Market, riding fiery red divine steeds.

These five people exuded an air of nobility. The divine steeds were clearly rare exotic breeds at first glance, and the scabbards of their swords and sabers were also extremely luxurious, obviously hailing from a top major power.

“Junior Brother Zhu, I heard you were born here in Beihai Market?”

Among the five, a Martial Artist in his thirties with two delicate small mustaches asked.

“Indeed. Not far from Beihai Market is Gushan City, where my Zhu Family is located.

This small place, Beihai Market, doesn’t have anything new, just some fish, shrimp, and seafood that are somewhat novel.

Senior Brothers, you must be exhausted from the journey. Why don’t you come to my Zhu Family to rest for a bit and try the local specialties before leaving?”

A young Martial Artist in his mid-twenties invited them with a smile.

His appearance was thirty percent similar to Zhu Chengan, but he was younger and more handsome. He was the fifth son of the Zhu Family, Zhu Chengzhong, who had joined the great Huangji Sect in Yongzhou.

“Junior Brother Zhu hasn’t been home for a long time; how can we pass by your door without entering?”

The Senior Brother smiled and said, “There are still two months before Old Ancestor Murong’s birthday. Let’s go to Junior Brother Zhu’s home to rest for a few days. What do you all think?”

The other Disciples of the Huangji Sect present did not refuse and expressed their agreement.

They were all direct descendants of the Huangji Sect, but Zhu Chengzhong’s Master was an extremely powerful Elder within the Huangji Sect, so they were willing to give Zhu Chengzhong this Face.

Thus, under the leadership of Zhu Chengzhong, the group passed through Beihai Market and headed straight for Gushan City.

While passing the central road of Beihai Market, Zhu Chengzhong also saw a pool of blood on the ground.

The heads of the Zhu Family had been placed there for several days until they began to smell, and they had only been cleared away two days ago.

If Zhu Chengzhong had arrived two days earlier, he could have collected the complete bodies of his family members.

At this moment, he thought it was just a bloodstain left by Jianghu People fighting and getting injured on the road, so he didn’t care at all.

All the way back to Gushan City, Zhu Chengzhong felt something was strange.

People coming and going in Gushan City had slight changes in their expressions upon seeing Zhu Chengzhong, and their gazes were extremely odd.

Everyone in Gushan City knew he had joined the Huangji Sect, and the Zhu Family itself already dominated Gushan City.

So whenever he returned, everyone in Gushan City would rush to flatter and curry favor, greeting and bowing to him.

But this time when he returned, not a single person greeted or bowed to him; they even seemed to be avoiding him.

For some reason, Zhu Chengzhong had a bad feeling in his heart.

Upon returning to the Zhu Family Manor, Zhu Chengzhong’s expression changed drastically.

The originally magnificent Zhu Family Manor was now in ruins, with bloodstains everywhere, and even the gold-inlaid plaque had been torn down.

A faint stench of decaying corpses came from within the manor, and one could vaguely see many bodies lying inside.

Chen Yuan hadn’t looted too many things from the Zhu Family.

But after the Zhu Family was destroyed, those who had grudges against them and those who were bold entered the Zhu Family Manor to loot, carrying away everything of value and then leaving Gushan City immediately.

Anyway, there were so many people stealing things that even if Zhu Chengzhong returned, he wouldn’t be able to find them.

The Senior Brother from the Huangji Sect glanced at the Zhu Family Manor and shook his head slightly: “It seems a massacre occurred in Gushan City recently. The whole family must have been wiped out, with not a single one left, not even someone to collect the bodies. Whose family was so miserable?”

Zhu Chengzhong stared blankly at the messy Zhu Family Manor: “My home.”

Senior Brother: “…”