Chapter 66: Pigskin Jelly

In the legends of Jiaozhi, Fu Dong Tianwang was originally a native of Fu Dong Village in Wuning Department, and until the age of three, he could not speak, smile, or walk—but he had an enormous appetite.

Just as the northern “Yin Bandits” invaded, Fu Dong Tianwang suddenly spoke, promising the King of Jiaozhi that with iron horses, iron swords, and iron helmets, he could defeat the enemy.

The King of Jiaozhi fulfilled his demands, and the three-year-old child devoured thirty-three oxen in one meal, then transformed into a heavenly general ten zhang tall, mounted his horse, brandished his sword, and routed the Yin Bandits.

Later, the people of Jiaozhi built temples to worship him, offering incense and offerings through the generations.

During festivals, the temple would present vast quantities of various foods as offerings.

What was unusual was that in Fu Dong Tianwang’s temple, the offerings were not only for him, but also for his horse, his sword, and his hat.

…

Xu Yuan healed his wounds and reloaded the long musket with gunpowder—then awkwardly realized he had no bullets.

This gun could be loaded with a single large bullet, or a packet of smaller shot.

Xu Yuan had no metal objects on hand; all had been consumed as bait to strengthen his golden pills.

Xu Yuan rummaged around, gritted his teeth, and smashed the kitchen’s iron pot.

“When the stepmother returns, I’ll surely get a scolding.”

Using the fire in his belly, Xu Yuan refined the entire iron pot into a single bullet and rammed it into the gun’s muzzle.

Then he dragged a table to block the door, propped the long musket atop it, and aimed it straight at the doorway.

He had just sat down to catch his breath when suddenly, a strange splashing sound erupted in the courtyard beneath the torrential rain.

Xu Yuan pressed his eye to the door crack and saw the courtyard’s standing water spontaneously converging toward the center.

Xu Yuan frowned, muttering: “Damn it!”

The earlier blast from the long musket had shattered both door gods pasted on the courtyard gate!

These things are useless if pasted too many times—because only those two guardians are responsible.

Houses with courtyards paste them on the courtyard gate; those without paste them on the main gate.

The entire household is then protected.

Now it was a problem: this strange thing passed through without resistance, straight into the courtyard.

…

Chen Liangxuan sensed his two “ink paintings” had shattered, meaning Xu Yuan had broken his technique—this assassination attempt had failed again.

Master Chen was annoyed, but not overly concerned.

Lao Qian and Xing Guolong had both failed; two ink paintings and two “flesh corpses” made from wild cat and dog blood could not kill him—this was normal.

Master Chen’s move was merely to confirm: had Yan Xiu taken Xu Yuan to the county yamen?

Once Master Gao’s technique was activated, nothing would remain inside the yamen.

So he had to confirm whether Xu Yuan was in the yamen—and if not, eliminate him too!

Hejiang Alley was indeed unusual, but before this thing, everything was ordinary.

Master Chen stood in “Xuchun She,” gazing at the hazy rain outside, with Master Ji, sword on back, standing behind him.

On the bamboo table in the room lay two objects: an iron sword and an iron hat, beside them a small iron horse.

Master Chen’s gaze swept over the three items, and a look of relief crossed his face: finally, it had succeeded!

…

Xu Yuan suddenly felt an intense hunger—this hunger reminded him of the moment he first became a Dan Xiu and ignited the fire in his belly.

He was starving as if a fire burned inside his stomach!

The courtyard’s water kept flowing, already pooling into a foot-high mound at the center.

Xu Yuan looked around the room—what was most suitable to satisfy this hunger? The long musket before him!

But Xu Yuan held back, opened the door, and dashed out.

At the courtyard’s center, his jin dan transformed into a supple short rod, and without hesitation, he swung it down with a sharp crack.

The water, just risen over a foot, trembled violently, clearly stunned:

Its appearance meant “irreversibility.”

It could not be resolved by acting before it fully formed.

Moreover, during this formation, the surrounding evil energy was terrifyingly high.

Approaching now would inevitably lead to corruption—especially for cultivators, who were far more prone to distortion!

Xu Yuan froze for a moment—this water hadn’t scattered; it wobbled like pigskin jelly.

Xu Yuan refused to believe it—he switched to a small knife, slashed down—and cut through, but the water mass quickly re-fused.

It wasn’t like pigskin jelly, which split cleanly; it became “cut the water, and it flows even more.”

Xu Yuan changed his grip—the three-eye musket appeared.

Boom!

A bullet shot in, slowed rapidly in the water, then sank silently to the bottom.

Still, no damage was done.

Faced with such a strange phenomenon, the most effective method seemed to be drying it with “belly fire”—but Xu Yuan looked up at the endless rain and wisely abandoned the idea.

“I still lack experience,” Xu Yuan reflected.

Being this close to the anomaly made Xu Yuan’s eyes glow green—and he grew hungrier.

A thought suddenly struck Xu Yuan: Can I eat this?

This thing looks just like pigskin jelly—it should be edible!

The intense hunger drove him to act without thought—he bit down!

For others, swallowing such an anomaly would be suicide—intense corruption would instantly turn them into anomalies.

But Xu Yuan knew—he wouldn’t be affected, because he had “Nothing Forbidden.”

The greatest power of this destiny so far was its ability to completely repel all anomaly and mystery corruption.

If the corruption was too strong, he could shed his skin to shed it.

The full effects of this destiny were still unknown to Xu Yuan—he had to explore them slowly.

“Nothing Forbidden” had never appeared before; his father, a Destiny Cultivator, had no experience to pass on.

As Xu Yuan’s Destiny cultivation deepened, his resistance to anomalies through “Nothing Forbidden” grew stronger.

For example, though Xu Yuan was now ravenously hungry, he had not lost his reason like Song Lu had.

But so far, it only enhanced resistance—it did not grant full immunity.

Xu Yuan devoured the foot-high water mass in three bites!

The water continuously flowing toward the center paused, stunned.

It was too unexpected…

Xu Yuan licked his lips, satisfied: “Actually, the texture really does resemble pigskin jelly—excellent!”

“Splish-splish,” more water surged up, and another foot-high water mass formed before Xu Yuan.

Xu Yuan opened his mouth and bit down again without hesitation.

The power of “Five Cauldrons Cooking” became evident—Xu Yuan’s belly fire blazed fiercely, digesting the massive water mass far faster than any other Dan Xiu cultivation method.

He ate the second mass—and refined it!

The water kept rising—a third mass formed, and Xu Yuan devoured it a third time!

By the sixth time, the courtyard’s standing water exploded with a crack, scattering in all directions.

Countless raindrops fell from the sky, pelting the courtyard, then draining away through the gutters around its edges.

Xu Yuan let out a satisfied burp—he was utterly full, his belly round and bloated, and his burp carried no fire.

Xu Yuan slowly walked back into the house.

This was the second trait of “Nothing Forbidden”: anomaly resistance.

The story must progress steadily; the setting will unfold gradually.

Don’t rush, don’t rush.

By the way, please support with monthly votes.





(End of Chapter)