Chapter 74: Pi San

It took Uncle Mao Si quite a while to calm down; he said helplessly, "Even if you die, Xu Yuan's troubles won't be completely resolved."

"If I want to kill you, my 'illness' must be a few degrees more severe."

Master Chen then said, "Then why..."

Uncle Mao Si was no longer speaking to him but muttering to himself: "But I am furious, you old thing, constantly sending people to kill Xu Yuan."

"Xu Yuan is someone I carried on my shoulders and raised since he was small."

"Even if it means living a few fewer years, I will still kill you, you old thing!"

Master Chen flew into a rage: "Do you really think I read the books of sages for nothing?"

He quickly grabbed a large brush and was about to write a character in mid-air, but he saw Uncle Mao Si take a wooden-turned gourd from under his umbrella, uncork the mouth, and pour out a Yin General clad in silver helmet and armor, which crashed down with a thud in front of the bamboo hut.

Master Chen's movement suddenly froze: "You have already refined a General?!"

There was no way he could be his opponent...

Since Master Ji had withdrawn, he returned to the Chen Manor at the fastest speed.

Carrying his battle sword on his back, he hurried back to the Chen Manor's rear garden, only to see that the Master had already died.

Uncle Mao Si, while coughing, used the ink line flicked from his ink line tool to wrap around the neck of Master Chen's soul.

With a gentle tug, the soul fell into that wooden-turned gourd, and immediately a sound of devouring with great relish erupted from within!

Uncle Mao Si turned around and saw Master Ji.

Master Ji's face was as calm as water; he raised his right hand and slowly gripped the sword hilt behind him!

His entire person stood like a deep pool and a towering mountain, like a tiger crouching and a dragon coiling! His momentum had risen to its peak.

Once the sword was drawn, it would be as swift as a charging thunderbolt, fighting to the death!

Uncle Mao Si merely glanced at him indifferently, put away his tools, packed them into a ragged satchel, slung it over his left shoulder, opened his umbrella, and walked step by step out of the rear garden.

He coughed once every two steps.

But Master Ji's sword never came out.

The moment Uncle Mao Si walked out of the small door of the rear garden, the momentum on Master Ji's body poured down a thousand li!

Not only did his momentum leak away, but his level also slid down uncontrollably, from between the sixth and seventh ranks, completely sliding into the seventh rank, and kept sliding down until it stabilized at the level of just entering the seventh rank!

Master Ji's face was a mask of despair.

The rosy, infant-like complexion he had before completely vanished.

After carefully examining himself internally, the "Five Organs Qi" cultivated by a sixth-rank Wu Xiu had already vanished without a trace!

Master Ji looked up at the sky and let out a long sigh, then walked unsteadily toward his own courtyard.

Pack up your valuables; as soon as the rain stops, return to your hometown to retire completely.

Aunt Wang sent Xu Yuan back to River Work Alley; anyone could see that Xu Yuan's state was very abnormal.

"Auntie, take me back to my room." Xu Yuan's voice trembled.

Aunt Wang quickly carried him into the room.

"Please go out first and help me close the door..."

Aunt Wang was worried: "Xu Yuan..."

"Don't worry, I have a way; please go out quickly."

Aunt Wang gritted her teeth, turned around, went out, and closed the door.

The instant the sound of the door closing was heard, Xu Yuan quickly rubbed himself up against the bed leg...

Just past the Shen hour, the heavy rain stopped completely.

Half an hour after the rain stopped, Lin Wanmo returned.

Upon entering the courtyard, she found Grandpa Shen and the other two were both there; looking again, she saw Xu Yuan's door was tightly closed, and her expression immediately changed as she rushed over: "Has something happened to Xu Yuan?"

Grandpa Shen extended his tobacco pipe bowl to block her: "Don't go in."

Lin Wanmo ignored him, pushed aside the tobacco pipe bowl, and tried to break in again.

Grandpa Shen said, "If you go in now, you might harm him."

Only then did Lin Wanmo stop, looked at Grandpa Shen, her eyes red: "What exactly happened?"

Grandpa Shen briefly explained what had occurred.

Lin Wanmo held back again and again... but couldn't hold back; she ran into the main hall and scolded the tablet of her "late husband": "You let Xu Yuan choose for himself? Choose what? He is so young; elders must make decisions for him!"

"Now such a huge thing has happened, and you are still hiding on the Yellow Springs Road, while I, a weak woman, bear fear and anxiety in the mortal world!"

"I'm telling you, if anything really happens to Xu Yuan, once you enter the ancestral shrine, I will not let you off!"

"Even in death, don't you think you'll have a good time!"

Grandpa Shen came in, tapping his tobacco pipe bowl, and asked: "Are you relieved? If not, I'll call Old Si in to temporarily summon Xu Huanyang back for you to scold."

"Hmph!" Lin Wanmo was sulking with anger.

Grandpa Shen also supported Xu Yuan's contact with the Purification Bureau; Lin Wanmo included him in her complaints, but since he was an elder, she didn't dare to vent her anger at him.

Grandpa Shen said: "Just now, Ma Tianshou came personally; he was seriously injured and was carried here."

Lin Wanmo still said nothing; the old man touched the back of his head, thinking silently that the girl was really furious this time.

But the words that needed to be said still had to be said.

"I let them go back first; there are some things about Xu Yuan that are inappropriate for them to know."

"Ma Tianshou treated Xu Yuan well; he came to visit immediately despite his injuries..."

Lin Wanmo was about to retort to the old man when suddenly a door-opening sound was heard outside; Lin Wanmo shot out, nearly knocking the old man over.

……

Two double-hours ago, Xu Yuan had already completed his skin-shedding, but was too exhausted and fell asleep immediately.

Now awake, he picked up the shed skin beside him and examined it carefully.

Up to now, Xu Yuan has experienced three "skin-sheddings."

But in reality, it should count as two.

The first shed skin bore large patches of purple-black patterns like tattoos.

This time, however, it was large patches of dark red patterns, resembling cloud motifs or meander patterns.

The first skin could extract the "characteristic" of cultivation from any cultivator of the Seven Great Gates.

This skin, however, was different… Xu Yuan tugged at it with his hand; its elasticity was excellent.

There was a wooden basin in the room, filled with well water.

Xu Yuan soaked the skin in it, and upon meeting water, it shrank.

Very quickly, it sucked all the water from the basin and contracted to the height of a three-year-old child!

The "Hunger-Eating" trick was poised and ready!

Having become the juvenile state of the Fu Dong Tianwang evil spirit, it also possessed corresponding abilities.

Xu Yuan sensed the strength of the "Hunger-Eating" trick and murmured to himself: "The more water it absorbs, the stronger the power of the trick."

"I just don't know what level of cultivator the trick emitted by this skin can affect at its maximum."

Xu Yuan fished the skin out and wrung it dry.

It returned to its normal size.

Xu Yuan blew air into the skin, and this incredible skin inflated, quickly nearly filling the entire room.

Xu Yuan then understood: "The maximum size can reach ten zhang!"

"It is the complete form of the Fu Dong Tianwang evil spirit, possessing the abilities of the complete form: immense strength, capable of splitting mountains and filling seas!"

Moreover, it could unleash its full power without needing any enhancement from iron swords, iron horses, or iron hats.

Although it certainly could not reach the terrifying level of a ten-zhang evil spirit, it was far more formidable than Xu Yuan's current true combat strength.

Xu Yuan released the air again, stroking his chin: "These two abilities are easy to understand—this time's skin-shedding evil spirit infection originated from that evil spirit itself."

"But the third ability…"

"Where does the third ability come from?"

Uh, I feel this chapter might be called "Skin Two."

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(End of this chapter)