Chapter 242: Zhan Shen Fa

The sun blazed overhead!

Harsh and blinding.

An old man, hunched and white-haired with a white beard, sat behind his stall, endlessly cursing the scorching heat.

Yet in front of his stall, over a dozen cultivators were selecting cultivation techniques.

That's right!

This old man was actually selling cultivation techniques.

And he sold nothing but various techniques and divine arts—nothing else.

That was strange.

Normally, how could an ordinary person have so many techniques to sell?

Unless you'd killed countless fellow cultivators and seized their techniques.

But…

Looking at the thousands of techniques piled before him, He Pingsheng couldn't help but gasp.

Even killing couldn't account for this many!

Every cultivator who looked at the old man had fear in their eyes.

Come on, someone who killed this many cultivators must be powerful, right?

He Pingsheng gently swept his spiritual sense over the old man.

Hm…

What the hell?

Qi Refining Stage Twelve?

Damn…

This scene became even more unbelievable.

"Don't scan me, esteemed elders—you're all my seniors…" The old man bowed to the crowd. "I'm just a lowly Qi Refining cultivator; I couldn't possibly have killed so many people as you imagine!"

"These techniques? All of them are from our sect!"

"Sect?" someone asked skeptically. "Who would dump their entire sect's techniques for sale?"

The old man gave a bitter smile. "Our sect collapsed."

Pfft…

He Pingsheng nearly laughed out loud: truly, the world held every absurd thing.

Pfft pfft pfft…

Many behind him chuckled.

Even Qiao Huizhu smiled faintly.

"Ladies and gentlemen, though our sect was small, surely among these techniques you'll find something you like. Please, take a look… take a look…"

"I only hope to gather enough money to buy a Foundation Establishment Pill!"

He Pingsheng asked: "How old are you, sir?"

The old man's gaze fixed on He Pingsheng. His body was withered, yet his eyes gleamed sharply. Seeing He Pingsheng, he chuckled. "Ninety-seven. If I don't break through to Foundation Establishment soon, I'll be meeting King Chujiang."

"Come, come, young man—what do you need?"

He gestured to the stall.

He Pingsheng picked up several jade slips and pressed them to his forehead.

He scanned them one by one.

The variety of techniques here was indeed vast, but their ranks were all low.

He Pingsheng now possessed techniques for all five elements—each capable of advancing at least to Golden Core.

Crucially, all his techniques were Heaven-grade.

So he had no urgency to swap them.

"I don't need any, thank you, sir," He Pingsheng rose to leave, pulling Qiao Huizhu with him.

"Wait, wait, wait…" The old man insisted stubbornly. "There are so many—surely one must suit you?"

"Look more!"

"Here…"

"This one… take a look at this!"

The old man's withered hand casually plucked a green jade slip from the stall and flung it through the air to He Pingsheng: "I feel this divine art will suit you."

He Pingsheng caught the jade slip and pressed it to his forehead.

A summary immediately appeared before his eyes.

The divine art's name was simple: Zhan Shen Fa.

Three characters—clean, direct.

But just those three words revealed nothing of its function.

Unconsciously, He Pingsheng's spiritual sense drifted downward, reading the summary.

After reading it, his heart trembled violently: a spiritual sense divine art!

Yes, this was a spiritual sense divine art.

What was a spiritual sense divine art?

Simple: a divine art usable only with immense spiritual sense.

He Pingsheng had never seen one before.

According to the summary, if mastered, Zhan Shen Fa would allow one to condense a powerful spiritual sense into an invisible 【Spiritual Wind】, secretly manipulating it to instantly disrupt an opponent's mind sea.

Before even fighting, you'd already wounded their spiritual sense.

And if your spiritual sense grew strong enough, you could shatter their mind sea in a single thought, reducing them to a living corpse.

Too ruthless!

Yet this art truly pleased He Pingsheng.

But…

He Pingsheng withdrew his spiritual sense from the jade slip and looked again at the old man—his wariness deepened.

Why did this old man give me Zhan Shen Fa?

Did he sense my spiritual sense was unusual?

Possibly—I just scanned his cultivation level.

This…

He's only Qi Refining Stage Twelve.

He Pingsheng couldn't make sense of it.

Yet now, looking again, the old man appeared utterly ordinary—no trace of transcendence.

He was still grumbling about the sun's cruelty.

Maybe I imagined it.

Or perhaps it was coincidence.

He Pingsheng took a deep breath. "Sir, I truly need this divine art."

"How much?" he asked the old man.

The old man's face lit up with joy. "Really? That's wonderful… Do you have a Foundation Establishment Pill?"

"Give me one!"

"Hehehe… maybe I'll finally break through to Foundation Establishment!"

"Hmm," He Pingsheng nodded and pulled a porcelain bottle from his storage pouch, handing it over.

The old man didn't even check if the bottle contained the pill—he waved He Pingsheng off. "Alright… first customer, then next. Young elder, take your time… let the others choose."

He Pingsheng bowed respectfully to the old man, then pulled Qiao Huizhu away.

"What kind of divine art is it?" Qiao Huizhu asked curiously.

He Pingsheng handed her the jade slip.

She glanced at it. "Spiritual sense divine art—extremely rare… and extremely ruthless…"

"Impossible to guard against!"

"Yes," He Pingsheng said. "Once mastered, another way to protect myself."

Qiao Huizhu said: "More like a sneaky attack."

He Pingsheng chuckled. "Either way—it saves my life."

If I reinforce this in the Treasure Basin later, that'll be perfect.

But…

Thinking of it, He Pingsheng frowned again.

"Husband… what's wrong?" Qiao Huizhu asked.

He Pingsheng said: "There's a divine art this ruthless in the world? Thank heaven none of my past enemies knew it—if they had, I'd be dead."

Think about it!

If an opponent knew spiritual sense attacks and struck secretly… it would send chills down your spine.

This isn't like the Soul-Annihilating Bell.

When you pull out the Soul-Annihilating Bell, the enemy is on guard—at least they know to defend.

Spiritual sense abilities are formless and shapeless, killing without a trace.

……

Next, continue browsing this stall.

He did not find Ku Ma Zi, but he discovered a decent talisman brush.

Qiao Huizhu hails from Tianfu Mountain; I am skilled in drawing talismans, and this brush suits her perfectly.