Chapter 46: All Things in Life Nourish Heaven; Heaven Has Nothing to Repay Man!

To investigate whether the Li family was connected to the demon bandits, numerous esteemed cultivators were on standby at the magistrate's office.

Following the Chi Lin Guard's message, Tie Fengzhang arrived near the Princess's mansion within moments.

Linghu Qingmo rode ahead and spotted Li Jing and the Chi Lin Guard heading toward Qingquan Alley; he drew his sword and approached to ask:

"Li Lao, are there signs of demonic presence here?"

"Shh~"

Li Jing carefully observed the Demon-Tracking Disc and sensed the source of blood-evil qi was nearby; he drew his sword from his horse's side.

Ji Shiqing, from Xuanhu Academy, had intended to exchange information, but as soon as he stepped into the alley, he frowned, pulled out a Bagua Disc from his robe's wide sleeve, infused it with qi to observe its surface, scanned the buildings, then pointed toward the alley's center:

"The source of blood-evil qi is there."

"Spread out and encircle—don't disturb the Princess."

Tie Fengzhang raised his right hand; the elite Wu Zu scattered left and right, leaping onto rooftops and advancing toward the mansion from all sides.

Linghu Qingmo had been holding his breath to track the source, but after advancing a short distance, he suddenly realized the origin was near houses five and six—his heart jolted!

Because the Princess's mansion was so noisy, the "five-six-seven" courtyards in Qingquan Alley had never been occupied; now only Xie Jinhuan had rented house number six for one tael and seven qian.

Could Xie Jinhuan have been harmed by the demon bandits?!

Thinking of this, Linghu Qingmo felt as if struck by lightning; his mind spun with scenes of his recent encounters with Xie Jinhuan—being hit, being touched on the chest, forced to do chores, being slapped on the buttocks…

Though his first impression wasn't good, Xie Jinhuan's hatred of evil and relentless pursuit of justice were real—he had even leapt to rescue others at Sanhe Tavern. How could such a good person perish like this?

Linghu Qingmo gripped his sword tightly, suppressing the urge to rush over, and only leapt forward once the elders completed the encirclement.

Shu-shu-shu—

In an instant, over a dozen figures shot out and landed around the mansion.

Li Jing swiftly scanned the area with his blue-bladed sword.

Ji Shiqing secretly formed a hand seal beneath his sleeve; his right hand glowed with pale-blue Lei Guang!

Tie Fengzhang also gathered his qi, prepared for the demon to break through.

But the next moment, all the esteemed cultivators and Wu Zu froze in shock.

Only warm autumn sunlight spilled across every corner of the elegant courtyard.

A small table stood on the steps outside the tea hall, laden with wine and snacks.

A refined beauty in an exquisite ruqun sat cross-legged on the white stone steps, cheeks cupped in her hands, her eyes behind golden-rimmed glasses brimming with the shy blush of first love, gazing at the courtyard's center.

On the white stone path, a young man wore nothing but pants, balancing on his fingers, inverted and cross-legged, in an awkward posture as his qi surged wildly.

Beside him, a large black bird tried to mimic the inverted pose but, finding it too difficult, kept doing backward somersaults…

"Guh~ guh~ guh…"

??

Though the high-level cultivators present were well-traveled, they had never seen such an absurd scene; all were left speechless.

As the dozen figures appeared, Lin Wanyi and Meiqiu were clearly startled, their eyes wide with fear as they scanned left and right:

"Huh?"

"Gujii?!"

Xie Jinhuan also flipped upright in one swift motion, alert and scanning all around, then looked utterly bewildered:

"Miss Linghu? Elders, what is this…?"

Linghu Qingmo, relieved to see Xie Jinhuan unharmed, cautiously scanned the surroundings:

"There is blood-evil qi here—did you notice anything unusual?"

"Blood-evil qi?"

Xie Jinhuan looked around: "Is there? Lin Miss, did you see it?"

Lin Wanyi, caught in private company with a man, blushed furiously:

"Where's any blood-evil qi? You must be mistaken…"

Tie Fengzhang knew how fierce Xie Jinhuan had been these past days; seeing this, he too suspected a misunderstanding and turned to those around him:

"Li Lao? Master Ji?"

Li Jing held the Demon-Tracking Disc—the needle was clearly trembling, pointing directly at Xie Jinhuan!

Ji Shiqing received the same result, his brow tightening:

"Young Master Xie, what cultivation technique were you just practicing?"

Xie Jinhuan replied calmly: "I just made a bet with Lin Miss—I claimed I could reverse-practice a technique. She didn't believe me, so I demonstrated."

"Reverse-practice?"

Everyone was baffled.

Zhou He, the Chi Lin Guard's hundred-commander, sensing the situation had veered beyond expectation, frowned inwardly but still interjected:

"Any cultivation technique that generates 'blood-evil qi' is demonic or heretical. Young Master Xie, your words are rather taboo."

Xie Jinhuan spread his hands: "How could it be demonic? Normal techniques draw in the spirit-qi of heaven and earth to nourish essence and physique; reverse-practice simply disperses qi, transforms flesh and blood into nourishment, and returns it to heaven and earth…"

After his explanation, everyone was even more confused.

None of the high-level cultivators had ever heard of such a ridiculous technique; they were about to ask when Linghu Qingmo spoke first:

"He really can do this—I saw it before. It's called… uh… Upside-Down Candle Pouring!"

"Huh?!"

As soon as the words left her mouth, several short gasps of disbelief echoed around the courtyard.

The high-level cultivators wore strange expressions.

Even Li Jing, who had carried himself with dignified aura, leaned forward slightly, thinking inwardly:

Upside-Down Candle Pouring? Isn't that… a woman riding on top?

If this upside-down cultivation technique is real, the name is quite fitting...

Linghu Qingmo noticed everyone's expressions were off and asked:

"What's wrong?"

Tie Fengzhang found it hard to explain the art of the bedroom to the young girl, so he leaped into the courtyard and carefully examined Xie Jinhuan:

"Young friend Xie, you have recently achieved many extraordinary feats. I, Tie, do not wish to doubt you, but the law stands before us; if signs of demonic evil are found, a strict investigation is mandatory. Forgive my rudeness."

Saying this, he seriously inspected the bones, muscles, blood vessels, qi sea, and other conditions.

Ji Shiqing, acting as the 'Demonic Evil Consultant', also landed before him, inspecting back and forth with great care.

Xie Jinhuan was clean and pure, naturally fearing no physical exam; at this moment, he offered no resistance and asked:

"Is it illegal to practice a cultivation technique backwards?"

Could this even be a matter of legality?

Li Jing, holding his long sword behind his back with both hands, thought for a moment before responding:

"Some cultivation techniques practiced in reverse are used to increase power at any cost for a short time; methods to completely dispel qi and rebuild from scratch are also common in the world.

"However, practicing completely backwards, achieving 'All living things nourish Heaven, yet Heaven has nothing to repay man'—hmm... it's not that it can't be done, it's just that no one has ever done such an irrational thing from ancient times to the present."

Strictly speaking, it's a stupid thing!

While Tie Fengzhang was carefully inspecting, he also nodded:

"This art is even more ruthless than 'cutting flesh to return to the mother, plucking bones to return to the father'; it has never been heard of in the past."

Xie Jinhuan revealed a sunny smile:

"I was just trying it out casually after making a bet with Miss Lin."

Ji Shiqing inspected very seriously, but apart from a pure true qi of a martial artist within Xie Jinhuan's body, there was not the slightest anomaly, causing him to involuntarily look bewildered:

"The qi sea, bones, muscles, and skin are all fine; it's impossible you have practiced a demonic Dao technique, yet the blood-sha qi definitely appeared just now. Reproduce that technique you used just now."

Xie Jinhuan was very cooperative; he gathered qi throughout his body, and the qi energy flowed wildly through his limbs and bones, causing a slight breeze to rise in the courtyard.

Whoosh~

Tie Fengzhang carefully perceived the flow of the meridians, and the result was quickly discovered: the qi energy within Xie Jinhuan's body surged like the rivers and lakes; the pure true qi originally located in the qi sea, after traversing a full cycle through the body via complex routes, began to split and disperse outward.

Subsequently, his own essence, yuan, and blood were also swept up by the chaotic qi energy, dispersing into heaven and earth through the skin and breathing.

The situation looked like self-dissolution!

Ji Shiqing, who had been holding the Bagua disc, found that the magical tool in his hand detected the image of blood-sha, yet Xie Jinhuan had not cultivated any demonic Dao method; his eyes involuntarily flashed with deep admiration:

"It really is caused by the cultivation technique! The structure of this method can be called a masterpiece of nature, but... hmm... saying it is a technique of corpse dissolution doesn't quite fit..."

Tie Fengzhang also discovered that the structure of Xie Jinhuan's cultivation technique could be described as shocking heaven and earth, making gods weep! But apart from suicide, it was good for nothing, and his expression involuntarily became complex:

"Does your cultivation technique only have this effect?"

"Of course, there is more."

Xie Jinhuan, not being stingy at this moment, gathered qi again in his right hand and began to show off his skills to everyone:

Click-click~

As the qi mechanism flowed throughout his body, two small sparks of electricity emerged from his palm.

The many Wu Zu present, seeing this, were all slightly startled in their eyes, recognizing this as the Daoist Thunder Technique, hailed as 'The Head of Ten Thousand Methods, Unmatched Killing Power'!

It's just...

(End of this chapter)