Chapter 521: Blood-Exorcising Divine Needle

Emerging from the shimmering sword light, the first sight to meet Chen Heng's eyes was a vast, misty waterland.

The waters surged swiftly, waves unceasing, just like ten thousand horses galloping, turbulent as if standing still—

And hidden deep within the water mist, those reefs scattered near and far were mostly shattered and broken; a solitary islet had been blasted apart, with numerous corpses of fish and shrimp spirits floating and sinking with the waves.

A fierce, solemn, and lethal qi permeated the area beneath the clouds, lingering for a long time without dispersing, difficult even for wild winds and angry waves to conceal.

Clearly, this place had just experienced a fierce battle, resulting in such a scene.

While Chen Heng scanned his surroundings, Yin Yin Ruohua's heart, not far away, beat now fast, now slow.

Her cheeks burned hotter than before, her expression tense; she secretly gripped the magical treasure hidden in her sleeve tighter, a deep trace of dread in her eyes.

Earlier she had even mentioned Chen Heng, yet who could have expected that within a few breaths' time, before she could even set out, she would coincidentally encounter a True Person face-to-face.

For Yin Yin Ruohua, this was truly misfortune of every kind...

Long before entering the Huang Lao She Ji Map, she had heard Yin Yin Wuji carefully evaluate the various cultivators present.

However, when discussing Chen Heng, Yin Yin Wuji's expression had rarely been so serious, regarding him as one of the few capable of ultimately competing for the top spot in the Jin Dan.

Such a figure, in Yin Yin Ruohua's view, was someone even Yin Yin Wuji could not treat lightly!

And Yin Yin Ruohua, boasting of her own methods, feared she would hardly last beyond three hundred exchanges under Chen Heng's hand.

Especially since she had just fought a battle with Le Zhai of the Arctic Garden; although she had expelled him from the Huang Lao She Ji Map, Yin Yin Ruohua herself had suffered significant consumption and was not at her peak.

"Truly, what one fears most is what comes... The Huang Lao She Ji Map is so vast, why did I have to encounter this particular person?"

Yin Yin Ruohua felt helpless.

For a moment, countless thoughts flashed through her mind; finally, she decided to engage in a fight first, seeing if she could find an opportunity to escape along the way.

With the small jade tablet at her side, the worst outcome would merely be elimination.

It was just that such an ending would be a pity for this Fire-Bell Bronze Fish, so hard-won from Le Zhai's hands.

"Gu Yi, it's all your fault! This time, your Chen Lang has ruined me!"

Yin Yin Ruohua silently gritted her silver teeth, cursing in her heart.

Just then, Chen Heng suddenly turned his body, his gaze sweeping over.

Yin Yin Ruohua sighed inwardly; though she held little expectation, she still chose to offer a polite deflection first:

"What a coincidence; I did not expect to bump into True Person Chen here as well?"

"It is not a coincidence; if not for the emergence of the Bronze Fish, True Person Yin's tracks would not be easy to find within this Transforming Mellow Mist." Chen Heng shook his head.

"Looking for me?"

Yin Yin Ruohua was startled; she pointed at herself, hesitatingly asking:

"Which True Person Yin? Does True Person Chen seek me, or seek my elder brother? Wait."

A trace of vigilance suddenly appeared on Yin Yin Ruohua's face:

"Surely you do not intend to use me to threaten my elder brother, thereby seizing the initiative? In that case, True Person Chen could—"

"True Person Yin overthinks it."

"You are truly looking for me?"

Yin Yin Ruohua felt as if struck by lightning, her expression inexplicable; for a long while, she made no sound.

She knitted her delicate brows, carefully sizing Chen Heng up.

The young man in the clouds stood tall and graceful, handsome and refined; his black wide sleeves swayed slowly with the wind, his thick dark hair doing the same, set against the hazy floating light, appearing leisurely, dignified, and drifting with the bearing of an immortal.

The expression between his brows and eyes was clear and steady, like the night sky over Taihua Mountain, or a crane flying over a secluded peak.

It could be described as penetratingly clear and bright, making it difficult for people not to notice him even if they tried.

Usually, during idle times, Yin Yin Ruohua had engaged in private boudoir chats with a few friends, evaluating and ranking the cultivators of the Nine Provinces one by one based on their appearance and demeanor.

Without exception, Chen Heng was always ranked among the top in these discussions, a unanimous opinion!

Everyone in the world knew that Chen Chen Yushu and his bloodline descendants in the Nine Provinces, regardless of gender, were famous for their beautiful appearance and dignified bearing,

Yet even among them, Chen Heng could be considered outstanding and unparalleled.

Although it is said that once cultivators in this world achieve the Jin Dan realm, they can change their appearance at will, while the physical form can be molded, the divine spirit is hard to craft.

Altering one's skin and features is certainly easy, requiring no effort, but cultivating and refining one's spiritual charm is not the work of a single day.

Especially the deep fate and countenance within the bones, which are endowed by the Mysterious Pivot, cannot be shifted even by creation itself.

Otherwise, that method existing in Yu Yu Yuchen as a physiognomy art, known as the "Book of Beaded Satchel Fate," which claims to "discern fortune and misfortune before they sprout and peek at the thickness or thinness of one's Dao foundation," would not be listed among the "Twenty-Five Zheng Fa," deeply revered by many high True Persons and Daoist priests.

For instance, Luan Shuo, an Elder of Yu Yu Yuchen, is proficient in this Zheng Fa.

The reason Luan Shuo, back when Chen Heng was brought by Hou Wen to the Xiaoming Great Marsh, took the risk to inform Mi Mi Jingshi, wishing for Mi Mi Jingshi to step forward and invite Jun Yao to save him,

was precisely because of the "Book of Beaded Satchel Fate"; he had vaguely perceived the anomaly in Chen Heng's facial features...

At this moment, Yin Yin Ruohua remained speechless for a long time; only after a while did her voice rise hesitantly.

"Um..."

Yin Yin Ruohua glanced at Chen Heng, wanting to speak but stopping, her expression suddenly becoming somewhat strange:

"True Person Chen's action seems rather inappropriate; Gu Yi and I have been handkerchief friends for many years, sharing an extremely good friendship.

Now that we are both within the Huang Lao She Ji Map, not to mention there is also Wei Wei Lingjiang of Chiming, True Person Chen, you—"

"True Person Yin overthinks it."

Chen Heng repeated himself, then simply got straight to the point:

"The reason I am looking for you is that there is a matter in which I need True Person's assistance."

"..."

Upon hearing these words, Yin Yin Ruohua inexplicably felt somewhat embarrassed;

After lowering her head and covering her mouth to cough lightly a few times, she blinked her eyes and asked tentatively:

"Does this mean, True Person Chen does not intend to compete with me for this Fire-Bell Bronze Fish, nor do you have any intention of eliminating me?"

Chen Heng shook his head with a smile.

Seeing this, Yin Yin Ruohua obviously breathed a sigh of relief, her expression relaxing considerably, yet she did not lower her guard and spoke politely:

"With True Person Chen's divine abilities, there is still a need for my assistance? That is indeed rare; I wonder exactly how I should assist, and I hope you will instruct me first."

Chen Heng said:

"Why must True Person Yin be so modest? Since you were able to defeat a host of Xuehe Sect Jin Dan experts and enter this Ying Ying Jichuan, how could you be an ordinary foe? Moreover, that Blood Atonement Divine Needle technique you cultivate holds great use for me."

The moment the four words 'Blood Atonement Divine Needle' left Chen Heng's mouth, Yin Yin Ruohua's complexion immediately changed.

She suddenly lifted her head to look at Chen Heng, as if wanting to say something, yet she failed to speak.

"I suppose my divine ability has just matured, and I have not yet fully restrained that 'Manghu' qi, which allowed you to detect some anomalies while in Ying Ying Jichuan?"

Yin Yin Ruohua sighed, breaking the silence:

"True Person Chen truly possesses sharp eyes; one can only admire."

The Blood Atonement Divine Needle was one of the Xuehe Sect's supreme great divine abilities.

The cultivation steps for this method were extremely tedious; to study it, one first had to perfect the Xuehe Sect's 'Zhui Zhi Zhen Xing Gong,' otherwise forcing oneself to study it would only injure the body in vain, resulting in depleted essence and blood with no benefit whatsoever.

Only after 'Zhui Zhi Zhen Xing Gong' was successfully cultivated did one need to gather over a thousand types of malevolent sha qi from the world, supplemented by the Xuehe Sect's unique Cinnabar Iron Essence, to refine a mouthful of 'Manghu' qi within the body.

Once this 'Manghu' qi was formed, it signified that one had thoroughly entered the threshold of the Blood Atonement Divine Needle.

The subsequent key to cultivation lay in constantly strengthening that mouthful of 'Manghu' qi, shedding form to seek truth, until no further progress could be made.

Chen Heng had once seen in the Dao Record Hall of Yu Yu Yuchen that, in terms of killing power, the Blood Atonement Divine Needle was inferior to the Xuehe River's Six Desires Great Demon True Light and several other supreme great divine abilities.

However, regarding yin evil ruthlessness and venom, even surveying the vast Nine Provinces and Four Seas, it ranked among the foremost, with few supreme great divine abilities able to match it!

Once struck by the Blood Atonement Divine Needle, allowing the 'Manghu' qi within the needle to thoroughly take root in the enemy, not only would their flesh and spirit soul be corrupted, but their primordial spirit would also be completely defiled by the Blood Atonement Divine Needle; the enemy could only watch helplessly as they withered day by day until their body died and soul perished.

Let alone various rare and precious great medicines being useless—they could at best delay the Si Qi by a bit or two—even if an immortal intervened, saving them would be difficult.

However, although the Blood Atonement Divine Needle was formidable and formless and shadowless when activated, making it hard for enemies to detect, it similarly had one drawback.

That was before the 'Manghu' qi had thoroughly taken root, the struck person would mostly sense something amiss.

If they timely circulated their technique to force the alien qi out of their body, they would suffer at most some injuries and would not reach the stage where medicine and stones could not cure them.

But in that case, the utility of the Blood Atonement Divine Needle would be nullified by seventy or eighty percent, far unworthy of the name of a supreme great divine ability.

As early as when he exchanged palm strikes with Yin Yin Wuji in Ying Ying Jichuan, Chen Heng had already used the True Dharma Realm to test out this divine needle that Yin Yin Ruohua regarded as her trump card.

Since that time, regarding how to deal with Chen Bai, he had secretly formed a plan in his heart.

And at this moment, before Chen Heng had even explained how he knew about Yin Yin Ruohua's hidden needle, the latter had already made her own guess.

Since Chen Heng had originally intended to respond in exactly this manner, he did not speak much, merely nodding slightly.

"So it really is like that..."

Yin Yin Ruohua's eye twitched, showing some helplessness.

"Earlier, before departing for Ying Ying Jichuan, several elders within the sect had spoken thus, saying my external qi had not been trimmed and that my tracks might likely be seen by others.

I thought I had disguised myself well; even during my earlier dharma battle with Le Zhai, I did not unleash this divine ability."

Yin Yin Ruohua shook her head inwardly.

But before she could ask Chen Heng whom he intended to deal with, a streak of crimson light suddenly surged from Chen Heng's brow, spinning around his body; as if sensing something, it emitted a chilly, mournful glint.

After the time it takes to burn half a stick of incense, a cloud of murky yellow smoke also flew in from the northwest corner.

Its sound was grand, as if a mountain range were breaking through the sky and pressing down, churning the sea of clouds into gloom, its momentum so astonishing it seemed ready to press the waves of the water marsh down low!

Chen Heng spoke no more, simply decisively slashing out with his sword; with a 'Crack!', the yellow smoke was immediately cleaved in two, its head and tail unable to heed each other.

Yet suffering this blow, the yellow smoke scattered without becoming chaotic; with a single swirl, it began to regain its original form.

Chen Heng naturally would not allow it to reassemble its form; he waved his hand to spread his sword intent and transformed into light to strike again.

In an instant, only crimson light was seen bursting forth in the sky, so many sword lights simultaneously soaring and sweeping across that it was hard to distinguish their number, dense as a woven shuttle, truly shocking to behold.

Under such a storm-like offensive, the yellow smoke was like fish and meat on a chopping block, able only to be slaughtered at will, finding no opportunity to fight back.

However, just as the end approached, string music suddenly arose from within the smoke, a burst of loud and clear melodies that abruptly forced all the dense sword lights apart, shaking them out into the wilds.

Half of those sword lights even collapsed mid-air, ground away utterly.

"Shen Yu's 'Cuo Yu Jin Sheng'? Is it Ling Ling Shouming who has come?"

Yin Yin Ruohua beside him clearly recognized the source of this string music, a trace of surprise appearing in her eyes.

"What a masterful sword art, but is True Person Chen not too domineering? You clearly already possess one Bronze Fish, yet you still step forward for this Yin Yin Ruohua to protect her Bronze Fish."

The yellow smoke slowly dissipated, revealing a blurred figure wearing a fish-tail crown, wrapped in a black robe, and carrying three Bing Fa swords on his back.

He sighed toward Chen Heng and teased:

"I had not heard before that True Person Chen and Yin Yin Ruohua shared such affection? Such romantic fortune truly makes this Ling something to envy immensely!"

"It really is Ling Ling Shouming..."

Yin Yin Ruohua frowned secretly.

Among the three True Persons from Shen Yu who descended this time, both Ling Ling Shouming and Tangting Sima Xiu were long-established Jin Dan experts, extremely difficult to deal with.

Yin Yin Ruohua could barely fight and defeat foes like Le Zhai or Tian Fang.

But if encountering an established Jin Dan expert like Ling Ling Shouming, her only path was to temporarily avoid their sharp edge and seek another opportunity.

Although she too had cultivated one of the Xuehe River's supreme great divine abilities, the Blood Atonement Divine Needle was not adept at direct hard clashes, inevitably placing her a head lower.

"Why does True Person Ling not appear in your true form to see me?" Chen Heng fixed his gaze on the blurred figure within the yellow smoke and said calmly.

Ling Ling Shouming was quite frank; he spread his hand and spoke honestly:

"True Person Chen defeated seven Dan Yuan True Persons at Liusha Mountain; not only did Xie Tan and Wang Xiu fall to your hand, but even my sect's Tangting Sima Xiu suffered defeat. Even if your vital energy has not recovered, I dare not provoke your dharma might."

After saying this, Ling Ling Shouming cast a meaningful glance at Chen Heng; although Chen Heng concealed it deeply, he had still detected Chen Heng's consumption of primordial truth.

It made sense; fighting seven Jin Dan True Persons alone, three of whom were veteran Jin Dan experts, meant that no matter how formidable Chen Heng was, it was impossible for him to emerge unscathed—this was only logical.

"Since Chen Bai also intends to ambush and kill Chen Heng, for Yuan Shi's sake, if I happen to encounter him, I should pass him a message..."

Ling Ling Shouming's thoughts shifted, though his expression remained unchanged.

After merely uttering a word of apology, he ceased his persistence, dissolved this avatar across the distance, and withdrew.

When Chen Heng withdrew his gaze, Yin Yin Ruohua beside him wore a face full of disbelief, her look toward Chen Heng even more stunned than before.

"You..."

After hesitating repeatedly, Yin Yin Ruohua could not help but speak:

"Did you truly defeat a full seven people at Flowing Sand Mountain?"

"During those two days of recuperation after the battle, I vaguely sensed someone spying from afar; by then, Ling Ling Shouming had already revealed himself, and due to the commotion caused by the emergence of this Fire-Bell Copper Fish, he also fixed his attention upon you."

Chen Heng stated calmly:

"If I had simply withdrawn and left, you would not have been able to keep this copper fish."

Yin Yin Ruohua's eyebrow twitched slightly; although Chen Heng's words were blunt, they were indeed the absolute truth.

"What does True Person Chen mean?" she asked.

"You assist me in attacking Chen Bai with your Blood-Exorcism Divine Needle; in exchange, I will not drive you away and will ensure the copper fish in your hand is not lost," Chen Heng stated.

After pondering for a long while, Yin Yin Ruohua did not respond directly, but instead asked in confusion, "With the Alchemical Mist present, how can True Person Chen locate Chen Bai's whereabouts?"

"Once the copper fish emerges, we will naturally experience an indistinct sensation.

Furthermore, Chen Bai, having been meticulously taught by Chen Chen Yushu and possessing various arts, has abilities that surpass both Tangting Sima Xiu and Ling Ling Shouming; seizing the fish is inevitable for him."

Chen Heng laughed once, a trace of coldness flashing from the depths of his eyes:

"Since that is the case, we shall simply follow the sensation and seek them out one by one.

I believe that among them, one will surely be Chen Bai!"

Although these words were spoken plainly, without much fluctuation, that awe-inspiring, vast aura still stunned Yin Yin Ruohua into silence.

"True Person Chen possesses such heroic spirit; truly, few can compare..."

After several breaths of silence, Yin Yin Ruohua finally sighed softly.

In a flash, a day's time passed.

On this day, inside a precious palanquin, Chen Heng, who had been in meditation, suddenly opened his eyes, while Yin Yin Ruohua, guarding him, also sensed something and looked out beyond the pearl curtains.

In the far distance, rolling auspicious light descended from the heavens, shining as brightly as the sun itself, brilliant and dazzling, glittering with radiance!