Chapter 3: Heaven and Earth Are an Ox

Mo Ci fell silent, not because his disciple had angered him into speechlessness, but because he truly had no strength left.

He was already a lonely ghost with his lifespan nearly exhausted; though the Ten Thousand Souls Banner was of some use, barely keeping his soul from scattering, it could hardly support him moving about freely. A few words would leave him needing to rest for a long while.

Very well, this disciple is beyond my teaching. Let us wait until he wakes, then see what realm this boy can cultivate to.

Chen Ye strode out of the ruined temple, watching that frail youth run as if wind blew beneath his feet, more agile than a young deer in the forest.

He circulated the spiritual energy within his body, chanting softly, condensed magic power at his fingertips, painted a spiritual talisman over his eyes, and shouted low: "Spiritual Eyes — Open!"

In an instant, closing his eyes then opening them again, his pupils had turned a brilliant gold, and all things before him had changed appearance.

Mountain rocks and soil appeared in varying shades of earthy yellow; tree branches and leaves were covered in a faint green... all things in the world were dyed in colors according to the Five Elements.

This is a basic spell essential for cultivators in the Spirit Awakening realm. With these Spiritual Eyes, one can observe all things and discern the flow of spiritual energy; all methods of gazing at qi and investigation are founded upon this.

But Chen Ye did not seek any heavenly treasures or earthly gems; he was hunting for his prey. The flow of spiritual energy on beasts varies; under the Spiritual Eyes, their colors are mixed and extremely unstable, making them highly conspicuous. One need not have studied hunting to easily find the tracks of beasts.

Before long, Chen Ye found a pack of wild wolves in the forest, five in total, all adults.

Chen Ye slowed his steps, held his breath and suppressed his aura, and approached slowly. When they were four or five zhang apart, the most alert wolf raised its ears and looked up at him.

"So sharp?"

Chen Ye muttered softly and helplessly stopped. A cultivator in the Spirit Awakening realm is still flesh and blood; even a single bite from this wolf would leave him covered in blood.

Now was the time for his deceased master to exert his remaining heat.

Chen Ye opened his storage bag and released a black corpse.

This corpse moved sluggishly, controlled entirely by the sound of the bell in Chen Ye's hand.

One shake made it hop forward; three consecutive shakes would make it pounce on the source of living blood and qi, clawing and biting wildly.

Chen Ye jingled the bell, driving the corpse to hop toward the wolves. The wolves instantly became alert, emitting low growls, baring their snow-white fangs, forming a semicircle, and watching this uninvited guest warily.

A larger wolf, its eyes flashing with ferocious light, launched the first attack.

It kicked off hard with its hind legs, its body lunging at the corpse like an arrow leaving the bowstring; sharp claws sliced through the air in several flashes of cold light, raking fiercely at the corpse's chest.

The corpse reacted slowly and failed to dodge in time; several deep gashes were torn open, black skin and flesh everted, revealing the rotting bones beneath.

Seeing this, the other wolves also pounced; some bit at the corpse's arms, others tore at its legs.

Although the corpse felt no pain, under the siege of the wolf pack it appeared somewhat wretched. The beggar's rags instantly became strips of cloth; more and more places on its black skin and flesh were damaged, with fragments constantly falling away.

But Chen Ye cared not; he fully displayed the character of a demonic sect disciple, paying no heed to damage to his master's physical body, shaking the bell to make the corpse grapple with the wolves.

Under Chen Ye's control, the corpse suddenly swung both arms, sweeping a nearby wolf to the ground, then opened its huge mouth and bit fiercely at the neck of another wolf.

That wolf failed to dodge in time; blood instantly sprayed from its neck. After struggling for a few moments, it went still.

The wolf pack was cunning and knew the situation; seeing the corpse's power, the remaining three howled a few times and fled. But under Chen Ye's gaze of the Spiritual Eyes, these three wolves, though seemingly fleeing, were actually circling around using the forest as cover, intending to ambush from behind.

Chen Ye could not help but sigh: "Pu Songling did not deceive me; wolves are indeed cunning, capable of deception and ambush."

However, for a corpse, there is no concept of vital points; what use is an ambush?

Even if the three wolves tore at it wildly, this old and dry corpse merely lost some fragments, suffering no great harm.

In the end, the corpse bore many more wounds, but four of the five wolves were killed; only the last wolf, confirming the situation was hopeless, chose to flee. That was at least loyal and righteous.

Chen Ye threw two of the wolves to the corpse to let it drink the blood, as a supplement to its consumption.

Ordinary corpses rely entirely on fresh blood for propulsion; since they have no soul or spirit, human blood or beast blood makes little difference.

He drained and skinned the remaining wolf, carefully preparing it, then examined the collected wolf blood closely. To cultivate using the Blood Refining method, the key lies in ingesting blood containing spiritual energy, refining it, and merging it into oneself to promote the formation of the dantian sea of qi.

The place in the human body richest in spiritual energy is the blood of the heart; wild wolves seem to be no exception.

The blood squeezed from the wolf's heart shimmered with star-like spiritual light in Chen Ye's Spiritual Eyes; though it contained spiritual energy, the amount was pitifully small.

But this did not matter; Chen Ye only wished to investigate why beast blood drives people mad while human blood does not.

No, such a statement might not be rigorous enough.

The books record that practicing with human blood is affected by resentful qi, causing extreme emotions such as irritability, rage, and overwhelming sorrow, requiring seated meditation with methods to calm the mind to refine it.

The resentful qi in human blood can still be dissolved; what then of beast blood?

Regarding practicing with beast blood, the books contain only a single brief sentence: "It damages the soul and spirit; using it causes one to become a beast."

Such a record is far too brief, so brief it seems deliberately concealed, or perhaps merely too lazy to elaborate.

Chen Ye was by nature fond of digging to the root; if not for this, he would never have figured out the improved version of the Ten Thousand Souls Banner. Regarding this problem of resentment, he had many conjectures. Now that he had wolf blood, he could verify them.

Once everything was settled, Chen Ye returned to the ruined temple and, following the instructions in the book, refined these spiritual-rich essence bloods. A cultivator in the Spirit Awakening realm can only see spiritual energy but cannot control it at will; thus, Chen Ye's refining process looked rather like setting up a pot to heat oil for cooking.

He fiddled with various bottles and jars, sweating profusely, and only after a long while managed to rub out half a gourd of blood pills. However, they could not be taken yet; they needed to be nurtured for three days.

Although spiritual energy has various wonderful uses, merging it into the body is harder than climbing to heaven.

Ordinary people inhale spiritual energy with every breath, but only one ten-thousandth remains in the body; most is exhaled again. Over time, a small amount of residual spiritual energy accumulates in the blood of the heart; this is digested spiritual energy, easier to absorb.

The blood pills seal the spiritual energy to prevent dissipation, while medicinal herbs draw the spiritual energy out to merge into the pills.

Once nurtured to maturity and swallowed, cultivators can rapidly absorb this repeatedly digested spiritual energy, saving most of the effort. Do not think that because Chen Ye busied himself for several days to obtain this half gourd of blood pills, their effect is comparable to half a year of seated meditation.

When Chen Ye first read the book, he thought the world seemed like an ox; all things under heaven were like the ox's first three stomachs, and cultivators were the fourth stomach, specializing in eating what others had digested... and eating it with gusto.

But cultivation is just so; if one seeks not to rely on external things, one will mostly cultivate into a pile of dry bones. Even if the Demon Lord arrived, he would still need to take pills and refine magical treasures; there is no saying of ascending to immortality upon a single sudden enlightenment.

Now that the pills were ready, the next step was to find a "guinea pig."

One must first find the crux of why beast blood pills drive people mad before considering how to solve it.

As he pondered, footsteps came from outside the ruined temple. Chen Ye looked up to see a couple carrying an infant in swaddling clothes climbing the steps. Arriving before the temple and seeing Chen Ye along with the skinned, drained wolf carcasses, the man was instantly startled and almost turned to retreat.

Seeing him hesitate, the woman instead gritted her teeth and said to Chen Ye: "This gentleman, our family of three is passing through. Seeing smoke from a fire here, I wonder if you could spare some meat soup or gruel. This child has been hungry for three days; I beg your great mercy."

Chen Ye smiled slightly: "Meeting is fate; please, make yourselves at home."