Chapter 165: Taking Stock of Gains, Another Advancement

"……"

Lin Baiwei thought it over. Compared to the violent, vicious methods that came after, the arrow fired by the Heaven-Piercing Sun-Splitting Bow was indeed just a "reminder."

Those present had never imagined things would proceed so smoothly.

Even the Captains of the inner camp tasked with sealing off the mountain and standing guard hadn't yet reacted to greet the Demon-Suppressing General before General Shen had already set foot on the road back to Huicheng.

"I feel like you're almost catching up to Jiang Shijie…"

Walking along the road, Lin Baiwei's red lips parted lightly, her thoughts drifting, as if still immersed in the recent duel and unable to pull free.

Whether it was the single punch that tore apart the bronze bell treasure, the blood-red, condensed true meaning of the Dao Sword, or the strange and nimble movement art—each technique far surpassed the top martial arts of Outside Qingzhou, and she was proficient in all of them. It was simply unimaginable.

Both born from the same womb, the gap between people could be terrifying to such a degree.

Shen Yi pondered for a moment, then shook his head: "Still not enough."

Recalling the terrifying jade dragon formed from the gathering of profound ice sword intent he had seen earlier, even though Wu Xian's Sixth Molt had captured Bai Lu, he still felt he had no real chance of victory.

To fight Jiang Qiulan, his physical body's strength needed to rise at least another level before there was any hope of withstanding that sword intent.

After all, demon martial arts were demon martial arts. Though their effects were powerful, the lifespan they consumed was simply too great—clearly not something meant for martial artists to practice.

Three thousand years was enough for a Nascent Core Realm powerhouse to live several lifetimes over, yet not enough for Wu Xian's9 to achieve even a minor breakthrough.

Its greatest advantage was its "ceiling."

Invincible within the same realm, slaughtering like pigs and dogs.

If one truly calculated cost-effectiveness, it was so poor it couldn't bear looking at… this was the flaw of the martial art itself, unrelated to his own talent or aptitude. Even if the Outside Qingzhou Regional Commander or Jiang Qiulan were to practice it, they probably wouldn't manage to enter the door before their lifespan ran out.

But for Shen Yi, he was actually quite satisfied.

After all, his progress practicing human martial arts wasn't fast either.

Of course, there was one very important reason… the lifespan being spent wasn't his own anyway.

The simple word "talent" was a cold, cruel chasm. As one's realm rose, this chasm would grow ever wider, until one lost the courage to gaze at the far shore.

Some people never broke through the initial realm their whole lives. Jade Liquid Realm cultivators were already local powers, yet Nascent Core Realm cultivators, against the vast base of Outside Qingzhou's tens of millions of Li Min, numbered barely three digits.

Embracing Elixir Realm required the aid of the imperial court, relying on incense and愿力 to walk the path of Wu Xian.

Even so, there were only a dozen or so.

Across all of Outside Qingzhou, the only one who could break through to the next realm without relying on incense and愿力 was Jiang Qiulan alone.

Shen Yi felt no particular emotion stir within him.

From start to finish, his self-awareness was crystal clear: he was an utterly ordinary person who had obtained a fortuitous encounter allowing him to use demon lifespans to make up for his aptitude.

The only thing that could resist the word "talent" was time.

As long as he killed enough demons, no threshold existed that he couldn't cross.

"Uh."

Lin Baiwei noticed Shen Yi had fallen into thought, as if he truly regarded Jiang Shijie as an imaginary enemy.

She had only spoken on impulse, casually giving an example…

After some hesitation, Lin Baiwei said softly: "Once we're back, you'll be heading to Jingcheng. Would you like to stop by my home?"

"Sure." Shen Yi nodded. He happened to need a quiet place to take stock of his gains.

Liu Yuquan and He Zhen followed quickly behind, looking at the fox demon's corpse in their hands, and finally understood why General Chen had chosen the young man as the new general of Linjiang Prefecture.

One could say they were thoroughly convinced, with not a trace of dissatisfaction left.

……

Returning to Bai Yun County, the home Lin Baiwei indicated was actually a remote little cottage.

The two of them stepped inside.

Lin Baiwei walked to the table, looked at the thin layer of dust on its surface. It was on this very table that she had transcribed the entire Four Harmony True Gang, and it was from that moment on that Shen Yi had truly revealed his unfathomable martial arts talent.

She had wanted to see if Shen Yi would also feel some nostalgia.

Instead, she saw him sit on the edge of the bed, take out a silver-bright pouch, and begin taking stock of his gains.

Precious medicines and rare minerals were tossed onto the bed one after another.

It seemed the Jade Green Treasure Sword and the Soul-Suppressing Bell were all the fox demon's treasures. This disappointed Shen Yi somewhat, but thinking about it, it made sense—if there had been anything else, at such a life-or-death moment, the other party couldn't have hidden it.

He shook the pouch and asked in puzzlement: "Why didn't they bring any martial arts techniques when they went out?"

"……" Lin Baiwei helplessly withdrew her gaze: "Probably to prevent situations exactly like this one."

Shen Yi put the precious medicines and rare minerals back into the pouch. This storage pouch's space was much larger than the silver bell's, and was itself a treasure.

Compared to these external items, what he valued most was the fox demon itself.

A great demon with broad experience and a lineage of masters.

All manner of techniques层出不穷, dazzling to behold.

Take the Qingqiu external elixir arts, for example.

Those twelve external elixirs were jade-like in appearance overall and should have been refined into treasures. This was fundamentally different from the Heavenly Demon external elixirs, which condensed from jade dew within the body.

Besides that, in terms of usage, the Heavenly Demon external elixir served as a substitute for the inner elixir, hidden within the qi sea, merging demonic cultivation into the limbs and body. Though it didn't connect with the great apertures and meridians, it still required the body to channel demonic power.

The Qingqiu external elixir, on the other hand, was suspended in the air, completely unrelated to the physical body, used purely to store cultivation. The demonic power within could only be used to wield treasures like the Soul-Suppressing Bell.

When necessary, it could even self-detonate to repel enemies.

Clearly, that young fox back then had only heard legends of external elixirs and was actually clueless, blindly fumbling together with the flood demon to create the Heavenly Demon Yama external elixir art.

No wonder there were so many hidden dangers…

This thing had nothing whatsoever to do with the Qingqiu external elixir.

Now that he had the Qingqiu fox demon's lingering resentment, when deducing martial arts again, at least there wouldn't be any major mishaps.

Shen Yi toyed with the silver-bright pouch while in fact opening his panel.

His gaze swept past the Two Forms True Meaning.

The fox demon's sword-riding technique earlier was quite interesting; he wondered whether it could help him further refine the true meaning secretly passed down within White Cloud Monastery.

Gathering his focus, he spent a thousand years condensing a single treasure crystal, then began channeling the demon's lifespan into the Two Forms true meaning.

【Year One, you swallow the demon's treasure crystal, attempting to deduce the Two Forms true meaning】

【Lifespan extended by twenty years】

As the demon's lifespan gradually dwindled, countless grievances awoke one after another, and even Bai Lu joined the discussion.

The prompts were filled with all manner of strange and outlandish ideas.

【Year One Hundred and Thirty-Seven, the Two Forms Dao Sword you condensed hangs in the air, the yin-yang fish slowly revolving; you stare at the Dao Sword in deep thought, the demons' ceaseless bickering in your ears, the Green Hill fox demon glances at the gathered demons as if remembering something, and comes to your side to offer a small suggestion】

【The flood dragon in the water, the tiger in the mountain — they possess both yin and yang attributes, and also subtly align with the true meaning of dragon-tiger embracing the origin, how about…】

【Year One Hundred and Sixty-Two, with the Green Hill fox demon's help, you successfully seal the Mountain Lord and the Flood Dragon Demon into the yin-yang fish; you and the Green Hill fox demon crouch beside the Dao Sword, watching the changes within with great interest】

The day before yesterday I took one chapter off because I felt my condition was off and couldn't guarantee quality. You big shots all know I don't have any saved drafts — seventy consecutive days of outputting text has left my brain numb, and I can't feel the satisfying beats anymore. I switched to pulling an all-nighter to write and find my groove; I need to sort out my thoughts.

I've never broken my streak since I started this book; today might be the first time, and I feel really down, but I don't want to hand in some meaningless text just to get by.

Big shots, please give me one night.

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(End of this chapter)