Chapter 162

Jiang Ye's eyes narrowed slightly, and his fingers were trembling slightly.

He took a deep breath, suppressed the excitement in his heart, and continued to read on.

Every word and sentence on those pages was like an enlightening revelation, deepening his understanding of the two words "killing intent" by another layer.

It was not until noon, with the sun hanging high.

Jiang Ye let out a long breath, slowly put down the pages in his hand, his eyes full of wonder.

In that wonder, there was shock, and also a trace of sudden realization.

This "Qisha Scripture" was indeed worthy of being the secret technique of the Qisha Sect.

It was truly extraordinary.

He had originally thought that killing intent was merely an aura that grew more intense the more people one killed, but he had not expected it to be a type of mysterious energy between heaven and earth, with its own unique attributes and methods.

According to the records in this "Qisha Scripture," killing intent is a mysterious energy between heaven and earth, born from slaughter, grown from a killing heart, and completed through the Dao of killing.

Although it is extremely yin and cold, extremely evil and poisonous, its nature is actually yang and rigid.

When yin reaches its extreme, it becomes yang; when killing reaches its extreme, it conversely produces rigidity and ferocity.

It is precisely this characteristic of yin-yang reversal that gives killing intent the effect of breaking ten thousand techniques.

For example, Jiang Ye's previously invincible Blood Moon Illusory Kill had once been broken by Yang Han and that Qisha Sect monster using killing intent.

That illusion was originally formed by blade intent, using the mind as a guide, but a surge of killing intent tore that invisible restraint to shreds.

Besides this, killing intent has many other wonderful uses.

It can suppress evil spirits and has a natural restraint against ghosts, corpses, and other demonic creatures.

It can also intimidate an opponent's mind, making them fearful before the battle even begins, greatly reducing their combat effectiveness.

There is also a more advanced usage, which is to integrate killing intent into true qi to enhance the attack power of the true qi.

On this point, Jiang Ye had indeed seen that Qisha Sect monster use it; that person's true qi was wrapped in intense killing intent, and with one palm strike, it not only had the destructive power of true qi but also the erosion of killing intent, making it impossible to defend against.

Yang Han probably couldn't do it; although she could use killing intent to break free from illusions, she was far from the level of integrating killing intent into true qi.

And the prerequisite for using killing intent is to first learn how to cultivate it.

As for how to cultivate killing intent, three methods are recorded here.

The first method is to kill a large number of people, absorbing a trace of killing intent in the endless slaughter.

The monsters of the Qisha Sect, all with hands stained with blood, came about precisely because of this.

The second method is to slaughter a large number of animals, which also provides an opportunity to absorb killing intent.

For example, a butcher, even without understanding martial arts, will naturally carry a trace of killing intent after a large amount of slaughter, which has a natural suppression effect on ordinary wild beasts.

However, the effect of slaughtering beasts is certainly not as good as the effect of killing people.

Otherwise, those monsters of the Qisha Sect would not have the fierce reputation of "Human Butcher."

They would be called "Beast Butchers" instead.

There is another method, which is to slay demons.

After wild beasts gain intelligence, they can be called demon beasts.

And demon beasts are often naturally bloodthirsty, and over long years, they accumulate a large amount of killing intent by hunting other living beings.

If one is a genius with sufficient comprehension, one can absorb killing intent from them after slaying demon beasts, using killing to nourish killing, achieving twice the result with half the effort.

Jiang Ye fell into deep thought.

He did not consider himself a great saint, and his hands were stained with quite a bit of blood, but he was not a villain who had lost all humanity.

He could not bring himself to be like those monsters of the Qisha Sect, treating the common people at the bottom as grass to be cut in order to cultivate killing intent.

He had once been a member of the bottom-tier commoners, and he knew well the hardships of those at the bottom; just staying alive was already very difficult.

He could not bring himself to slaughter the innocent for the sake of cultivation.

"It seems that if I want to cultivate killing intent, slaying demons is one path."

Jiang Ye pondered inwardly.

At the same time, he discovered a blind spot.

Since one can absorb killing intent from demon beasts after slaying them.

What about slaying the Qisha Sect monsters who have cultivated a large amount of killing intent...

Those monsters have hands stained with blood, and the killing intent within their bodies is intense, even more so than that of demon beasts.

Theoretically, couldn't one also absorb the killing intent they have cultivated?

Using killing to nourish killing, using evil to suppress evil...

This thought flashed through his mind like lightning, making his eyes grow brighter and brighter.

Why didn't the "Qisha Scripture" record this method?

Is it because these first three layers of records are incomplete?

Or was this part intentionally omitted?

Just as he was pondering, a somewhat hasty sound of footsteps suddenly came from outside the herb garden.

The footsteps were messy and heavy; clearly, the visitor was not alone, and their condition was not very good.

"Hmm?!"

Jiang Ye hurriedly put the three ancient pages back into his bosom, kept them close to his body, and looked up outside the herb garden.

His five senses were now so sharp that he could capture the crawling of a beetle more than ten meters away.

Naturally, he could also clearly perceive that messy fire energy, intense yet scattered, clearly having just experienced intense consumption and not yet fully recovered.

It should be Zheng Feng.

Sure enough.

A moment later, a young man with messy robes, accompanied by a young girl with equally messy robes, arrived panting at the entrance of the herb garden.

The young man's hair bun was disheveled, his robes were covered in mud and grass clippings, and his sleeve was torn, revealing a bruised arm.

The girl was no better off; her cute little face was covered in dust, and a few withered leaves were hanging in her hair, looking just like a little kitten that had just rolled out of the mud.

It was none other than Zheng Feng and his younger sister, Zheng Hui.

Seeing the two, Jiang Ye, who was sitting cross-legged on the ground, immediately stood up, a flash of surprise in his eyes:

"True Disciple Zheng, it has been some time since I last saw you... how did you end up like this..."

His voice carried a hint of surprise, and a hint of concern.

Seeing that the originally handsome Zheng Feng and the cute and lovely Zheng Hui had both become like refugees.

There was no longer any air of a Tianyang Peak true disciple; they looked like they had just fled from some desolate mountain.

There were several scorched marks on Zheng Feng's robes, clearly having experienced intense combat, where his Fire-type true qi had been used to the extreme, even burning his own clothes.

Zheng Feng first looked at his own image with some embarrassment, a trace of awkwardness flashing across his handsome and delicate face, and then he spoke to Jiang Ye with excitement he couldn't hide:

"Elder Jiang, there is a great opportunity!"

Zheng Hui, who was on the side, also blinked her dark, round eyes and echoed with excitement:

"Elder Jiang, if I tell you, it will shock you!"

Her voice was crisp, carrying a bit of the playfulness unique to a young girl, and paired with that dirty little face, it was quite comical.

"Oh? What great opportunity?"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Ye immediately became interested.

He stepped aside, led the two to the wooden house, and brewed a pot of good tea for them.

The tea soup was clear, the tea fragrance curled, drifting in the simple wooden house.

After Zheng Feng sat down, he drank greedily regardless of his image; the tea soup flowed down the corners of his mouth and dripped onto his lapels, but he was completely unaware, clearly having been extremely thirsty.

One cup was not enough, so he poured another for himself and downed it in one gulp, only then letting out a long breath, the whole person looking as if he had been fished out of water.

Zheng Hui, who was on the side, was no better off; she didn't care about the heat, picked up the teapot, and drank gulp after gulp directly from the spout, looking just like a thirsty little kitten.

Her Adam's apple rolled up and down; she drank too quickly, choked, and coughed a few times, but couldn't bear to put down the teapot.

Seeing this scene, Jiang Ye shook his head with some amusement.

These two siblings were, after all, from a wealthy family and had lived in luxury since childhood; usually, there were very few times they would be so regardless of their image.

He didn't know what they had experienced to be in such a sorry state.

After a pot of clear tea was finished, Zheng Feng wiped his mouth and couldn't wait to speak, his speech fast, as if he wanted to pour out all his experiences of these past few days in one go:

"Elder Jiang, it's like this... didn't I consume the Blazing Sun Flower some time ago!"

"As a result, after all the medicinal power was absorbed, I was still one small step away from the late stage of the Embracing the Pill Realm, just that little bit!"

He sighed lightly, with some unwillingness in his eyes.

"I thought, I couldn't just wait, so I took Xiao Hui and wanted to go to the Duanling Mountain Range to try my luck and see if I could get some more spiritual fruits to cross that last step."

Hearing "Duanling Mountain Range," Jiang Ye raised his eyebrows slightly.

He had heard Zheng Feng mention before that within this Linzhou, there were two treasure lands where the spiritual energy of heaven and earth was the most concentrated.

One was the mountain gate where the Linzhou Upper Sect was located, the Three Spirit Mountains.

That was the cultivation holy land of the entire Linzhou, and ordinary people didn't even have the qualifications to approach it.

The other place was this Duanling Mountain Range.

This Duanling Mountain Range is located at the intersection of six prefectures, with complex terrain, overlapping mountains, and crisscrossing ravines; the spiritual energy of heaven and earth is concentrated, so it has nurtured many spiritual herbs and fruits, making it a treasure land that countless martial artists flock to.

Relatively speaking, there are also many demon beasts in this Duanling Mountain Range; they occupy the depths of the mountain forest, guarding those spiritual objects, and show no mercy to intruders.

It can be called the number one dangerous place in Linzhou.

It is said that in the depths of the Duanling Mountain Range, even experts above the Divine Qi Realm dare not step in easily, and a slight carelessness would result in their bones being left behind.

Zheng Feng had previously invited Jiang Ye to go to this Duanling Mountain Range to try his luck together.

At that time, Jiang Ye didn't take it to heart; after all, a place where demon beasts gather was too dangerous, and he didn't want to risk his life for a few spiritual herbs.

However, Jiang Ye's mindset had changed slightly now.

He had just been thinking about going to the Duanling Mountain Range to slay demons and accumulate killing intent, and he didn't expect Zheng Feng to come to his door.

This was quite a coincidence.

He didn't interrupt and continued to listen to Zheng Feng's narration.

"Elder Jiang, heaven does not disappoint those who work hard!"

Zheng Feng's tone began to become excited, light flickering in his eyes, and even his voice rose a few notches, "Guess what Xiao Hui and I discovered in the Duanling Mountain Range this time!"

Jiang Ye shook his head slightly and smiled faintly, "This old man has too little experience and really can't guess."

Zheng Feng took a deep breath, his chest heaving violently, his voice excited:

"It's the legendary Heavenly Spirit Fruit!!! And there are three of them!!!"

As he spoke, Zheng Feng suddenly realized that Jiang Ye might not know what the Heavenly Spirit Fruit was, so he hurriedly explained, his speech fast:

"This Heavenly Spirit Fruit can help people open up meridians and also assist in tempering Divine Qi; it is a true spiritual fruit that cannot be bought with silver outside! It is priceless and has no market!"

His eyes were full of heat.

"Oh?"

Jiang Ye was slightly moved, and a flash of brilliance passed through those aged eyes.

A spiritual fruit that can assist in tempering Divine Qi is indeed precious; no wonder Zheng Feng was so excited.

He then asked, "Then did True Disciple Zheng get them?"

Zheng Feng let out a long sigh, that handsome and delicate face full of annoyance and lingering fear, his voice dropping a few degrees:

"Originally, I almost got them..."

"Just that little bit away..."