Chapter 67: Deducing the Wind-Thunder-Fusing-Sun Scripture

Li Mujin walked ahead, her thoughts drifting.

Her younger brother was impulsive, but his judgment was truly sharp.

She had originally thought Li Xinhan overly valued Shen Yi’s worth, but this trip to Water Cloud Village had proven beyond doubt Shen Yi’s ability.

Compared to her brother’s blunt methods—brutally promising “status” and “women” to others—

Li Mujin preferred first to draw close, adopting a casual demeanor to dispel the poor genius’s wariness of noble families.

She made him feel he was no different from her: a fellow martial man, equally spirited, a trusted colleague, even someone he could be intimate with.

Then, subtly and imperceptibly, she let him experience the privileges of a noble scion; once he grew accustomed, no matter his true thoughts, to others Shen Yi would already bear the Li family’s mark.

Qingzhou youths always repay kindness with kindness.

Her bow carried genuine gratitude.

She truly wished to share the Li family’s resources and connections with talent like Shen Yi—even give him more than others. At the very least, the countless medicinal herbs he needed before breaking through Jade Liquid peak could all be provided by the Li family.

Of course, the desire to bring him under her command and make him serve her was just as real.

It was an instinct carved into their bones from childhood, absorbed through constant exposure in noble households.

But Li Mujin had not anticipated that Shen Yi had already recognized her intentions—and politely refused her.

Recalling how he had repeatedly slapped away her hand earlier—

This boy from Baiyun County had never believed they were of the same kind from the very start.

Truly… unyielding.

Li Mujin felt a pang of headache.

Shen Yi carried an inexplicable inner confidence—even alone in Qingzhou, unattached to anyone, he still stood firm.

She genuinely admired him, yet couldn’t help but wonder—

Where did his confidence come from?

Fang Heng, also from humble origins and roughly Shen Yi’s age, had spent years soaking in medicinal baths before finally breaking into the Initial Realm; now he was Jade Liquid middle stage.

Such talent was astonishing, even making her father covetous.

But look at the outcome: even though he was taken as a disciple by the Regional Commander after slaying demons, that came later.

Before that, he had truly been one breath away from death at the hands of that Jade Liquid late-stage demon.

Had there been the slightest misstep, he would have died without a trace.

To replicate his path—even he himself might not succeed—let alone Shen Yi, who is slightly weaker.

“…”

Li Mujin halted before a row of private courtyards and turned to look at Shen Yi.

He would soon find out.

The true nature of the Demon Suppression Bureau was cold indeed—treating people as expendable tools.

Here lay countless treasures, beneath which lay mountains of corpses.

Even with family backing, my brother and I nearly died in Water Cloud Village; as for those without connections, over the years, only a handful have risen to prominence.

“Make do with this. Let me know if you need anything.”

Since he refused, Li Mujin didn’t press. She stretched, waved her hand: “Going to catch some sleep.”

When she was far away—

Shen Yi turned and entered the side courtyard. Eight rooms total; the right archway led to the next private courtyard.

This was where a Demon Suppression Bureau Captain should live.

He chose an empty room.

Shen Yi drew water from the old well in the courtyard, filled a wooden bucket, returned to his room, and scrubbed his body clean from head to toe.

He changed into a clean uniform, studying for a while the two cloud patterns on the sleeve cuffs. Liu Xiujie had said: each cloud pattern meant several hundred taels of silver monthly.

This salary couldn’t match the old Fat Monk’s, but the monthly supply of cultivation resources was the real expense.

Two hundred taels of silver alone—just for drinking, eating meat, buying land, marrying a wife—was already a fortune.

Shen Yi stilled his thoughts and turned his gaze to the so-called top-three Jade Liquid internal art of Qingzhou; his eyes grew hot.

He opened it: nearly every passage bore annotations left by predecessors, with all easily misunderstood sections circled.

This was likely the first martial art Shen Yi could truly understand; he didn’t rush, reading carefully.

Understanding it in advance would save him much lifespan during the deduction.

“Using blood and qi to connect acupoints within the body, forming a flesh-furnace that burns and refines the breath of heaven and earth…”

Shen Yi suddenly recalled the past.

Under massive accumulation of lifespan, he had once condensed his internal qi into golden jade liquid—though only a few drops.

The Wind-Thunder-Fusing-Sun Scripture was the method to accelerate this process.

Numerous acupoints linked by blood and qi formed the Fusing-Sun Furnace, trapping the twelve major acupoints within.

The body as the furnace, blood and qi as the fire.

Refining the qi within, like refining an elixir.

The human body has three hundred sixty-two acupoints; excluding the twelve major ones, three hundred fifty remain.

According to the book’s annotations, a low-grade furnace uses seventy acupoints, medium-grade one hundred fifty, while a furnace formed from two hundred seventy acupoints is the supreme of the supreme.

The differences were vast: the fiercer the fire, the faster the refining, and cultivation efficiency differed by heaven and earth.

In the martial world, this was a treasure worth fighting to the death for; in a sect, only a direct disciple might glimpse its cover.

“…”

He turned to the last page; the copied large characters still faintly revealed the original’s lethal intent.

Those who secretly transmit this: placed on the Demon List—behead!

Shen Yi closed the book and summoned his interface before him.

【Jade Liquid. Wind-Thunder-Fusing-Sun Scripture (Uninitiated)】

【Remaining Demon Lifespan: 1,500 years. Can be condensed】

Vast demon lifespan flowed into the Wind-Thunder-Fusing-Sun Scripture like water.

…

【Year One, you mobilized blood and qi, attempting to connect your internal acupoints】

【Year Two, your blood and qi depleted; you revived the upper scroll of the Wind-Thunder Scripture you once used to complete your mortal foundation—now you relied on it again to mend the depletion】

【Year Seven, you understood the furnace method well, though your practice remained clumsy; you had successfully connected seventy-six acupoints】

【Year Thirteen, you grew increasingly skilled, avoiding all wrong paths; with years of steady temperament, you made no errors whatsoever—ninety acupoints within your body faintly took the shape of a furnace】

【Year Seventeen, surging blood and qi began to boil; the Fusing-Sun Furnace roared, and the heaven-and-earth qi within tried to flee your body—but was trapped by the nearly perfect furnace walls】

【Year Twenty, as you breathed and refined, two major acupoints were fully filled with jade dew】

“…”

Shen Yi halted the inflow of lifespan.

He remembered how, when he had been utterly clueless, it had taken him 135 years to convert just half a major acupoint’s jade dew.

Now, in just three years, he had filled two.

Efficiency had improved nearly two hundredfold; the mystery of the Wind-Thunder-Fusing-Sun Furnace needed no further explanation.

But it was still not enough.

Logically, since they cultivated the same internal art, talent could only affect the time to connect the furnace; refining speed should be similar.

Even conservatively, it would take eighteen years to reach Jade Liquid early stage—far too slow compared to those others.

Shen Yi slowly took out one beast core and two demon cores.

As demon lifespan flowed in again, he placed them one by one into his mouth.

(End of Chapter)