Chapter 28: Old Year Grain

Xu Yuan also collected the weapons of the two Wu Xiu and tied them to his back with cloth strips.

The rest were scattered bits of silver, which Xu Yuan also gathered together.

Finally, one thing remained, taken from the Wu Xiu who wielded the short spear—that Wu Xiu was the one who had previously held the banner.

A wooden bowl with a lid, containing some old rice!

The amount was roughly three times what the stepmother gave to herself.

As soon as the lid was opened, Xu Yuan felt that instinct suppressed within his body surge up even more violently, completely beyond his control!

Xu Yuan swallowed all this "Old Year Grain" in one gulp.

This old rice must have been extremely precious; Xu Yuan wanted to use it as bait, yet at this moment his body was no longer under his control, and once the old rice went down his throat, it was rapidly digested.

A certain special power then dispersed into his four limbs and hundred bones.

The power of the Fate Cultivator was greatly strengthened!

At the same time, Xu Yuan gained a sudden realization: the "June Insect" he had eaten long ago was only now fully digested.

The Fate Cultivator traits contained within the June Insect completely fused with his own.

Unknowingly, Xu Yuan condensed a second "Fate Pattern," advancing to the Eighth Rank in the realm of Fate Cultivation!

This greatly surprised Xu Yuan; early-stage advancement for Fate Cultivators was difficult, something his father and stepmother had repeatedly emphasized to him.

But he had eaten the June Insect only a few days ago, yet he condensed a second Fate Pattern and advanced to the Eighth Rank?

This old rice... was it truly so precious?!

Xu Yuan naturally did not know how huge a price the Pingtian Society had paid to obtain this tiny bit of Old Year Grain.

And while the Old Year Grain served as bait for the June Insect, for Fate Cultivators it was one of the few spiritual grains available to be consumed.

The second Fate Pattern was named "Eight Directions Injury Fiend."

Xu Yuan pondered this second Fate Pattern slightly; once he understood its effects somewhat, he felt a bit regretful: "Pity, I still cannot condense the power of the Fate Pattern into a Fate Technique. Otherwise..."

Shaking his head, Xu Yuan saw that the sky was not early anymore, so he ceased to delay further.

Xu Yuan ultimately did not ask the twin sisters which places in the mountains were suitable for spending the night.

Even if they had said so, Xu Yuan truly would not have dared to stay there.

It was better to rely on the speed of the calligraphy sheets and rush to reach the town before nightfall.

Xu Yuan ignored pursuing the Holy Maiden and her maid, charging swiftly toward the outside of the mountain.

The effects of the calligraphy sheets "Soaring Cloud" and "Riding Wind" on his legs were still active, granting him extreme speed.

Midway, the power of one calligraphy sheet was exhausted, so he switched to another.

Xu Yuan ran wildly for one hour, sweating profusely all over, yet when he was still seven or eight li from the town, the sky had already turned dark!

The yellowish earth suddenly fell into a moment of deathly silence at that instant.

It was as if a benevolent god and an evil god had exchanged the authority to rule the world, simultaneously declaring that the time for living beings on the earth had ended, and the era dominated by evil spirits and anomalies was about to begin.

Xu Yuan heard rustling sounds rising from everywhere nearby and far, high and low, quickly and accurately locking onto him!

Clearly, travel was forbidden tonight.

This was not unexpected; for more than half the days in a month, "travel was forbidden at night."

Suddenly, a sound of a bird of prey breaking the air came from above Xu Yuan's head; Xu Yuan looked up, and everything suddenly grew quiet again.

Above his head, there was only darkness as thick as black cloth!

Xu Yuan was puzzled but dared not let his guard down, staring intently at the night sky—suddenly, the darkness seemed to be torn open at high speed; a bone-white human-faced eagle abruptly appeared overhead, its huge bone-white talons fiercely grabbing toward Xu Yuan's face, wanting to tear his entire facial skin off and cover its own face with it!

Xu Yuan remained calm and composed, spitting out a stream of Fu Zhong Huo from his abdomen.

The bone-white human-faced eagle retreated into the darkness at an even faster speed, as if it had never appeared at all; it was unknown whether the Fu Zhong Huo had burned it.

Xu Yuan continued on his journey, wind rising beneath his feet, yet he was extremely vigilant of his surroundings.

Visibility was zero, yet Xu Yuan knew that the bone-white human-faced eagle must be hiding within the darkness.

Relying on his own perception, Xu Yuan sprinted toward the direction of the town.

After running several li, the bone-white human-faced eagle never reappeared; Xu Yuan secretly wondered: Seeing that I am not easy to mess with, has it given up?

Or... is it hiding some other sinister plot?

Xu Yuan chose to believe the latter.

After running for a while longer, Xu Yuan suddenly stopped and listened intently with his ear tilted.

The wind noise generated by his own running just now seemed to have masked some abnormal sound.

Upon listening, indeed there were sounds of flapping wings approaching from far to near.

"Run quickly!" Xu Yuan thought silently and was about to lift his foot, when he heard the sound was somehow wrong; this sound was coming from all directions!

"Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh—"

The darkness was torn open once again; bone-white human-faced eagles, one by one, lunged fiercely from all sides simultaneously!

Xu Yuan let out a strange cry, crouched low, and sped along close to the ground.

At the same time, Xu Yuan spat two mouthfuls of saliva into his palms; Fu Zhong Huo ignited in his hands, and Xu Yuan wildly waved his arms while running wildly.

Bone-white human-faced eagles dove down from all directions; their sharp talons left deep blood grooves on Xu Yuan's arms, yet before they could grip firmly, they were driven away by the flames.

Xu Yuan ran wildly for several li; a few scattered points of lamplight appeared ahead.

The town was almost in sight!

Xu Yuan's spirits lifted.

The bone-white human-faced eagles suddenly ceased their attack; after croaking a few strange cries, they all soared upward, crashing into the fog-like darkness, and all vanished without a trace.

A feeling of Fu Daxiong immediately rose in Xu Yuan's heart!

In the night, only a more powerful evil spirit could drive away evil spirits!

Xu Yuan dared not linger; he charged toward the town at his fastest speed.

A rushing sound of water arose, and dozens of zhang to Xu Yuan's left, a small river had appeared out of nowhere!

No matter how fast Xu Yuan sped up or how he changed direction, the small river always maintained the same position and distance!

Moreover, Xu Yuan realized he had sprinted for several li—and yet the distance to those few lantern lights had not changed at all!

Cold sweat immediately seeped from his forehead.

"What is this?" Xu Yuan roared, gripping his short spear in one hand and raising his single-edged knife in the other, flames flaring even more fiercely on both hands as he advanced step by step toward the river.

"Gagagaga!"

A child's pure laughter echoed, and from the river crawled up a bloated, corpse-white infant corpse!

The corpse-infant snapped its head up, staring at Xu Yuan.

Its eyeballs were a horrifying, corpse-white!

Xu Yuan's entire body stiffened, collapsing to the ground, the flames on his hands extinguished, his limbs convulsing uncontrollably.

The ghostly energy within the wound on his back had been triggered!

This corpse-infant possessed a special ability: it could forcibly control all ghostly and undead forces within a certain range.

"Gagagaga!" The corpse-infant's laughter grew louder, as if it had just played a most amusing game.

Ghostly energy rose from the wound on Xu Yuan's back, writhing strangely like slime, rapidly invading the healthy tissue surrounding the wound.

Xu Yuan felt a chilling force steadily advancing toward his heart!

There's more tonight.

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(End of Chapter)