Chapter 197: The Complete Ten Palaces Art

"Hahaha! With eight main ingredients already in hand, only the last one is left."

Fang Buxin patted the bloodstains clinging to his robes, his voice carrying the certainty of someone determined to win, edged with madness.

"If I remember correctly, the Blood Abyss Sect has been making quite a stir in the Northern Plains lately. Once I finish refining these main ingredients, I'll go cause some trouble for them."

He vanished into the distance without looking back. The wind and snow closed behind him, as if nothing had ever happened.

Meanwhile, at the Daoyang Sect.

After returning to Ember Sword Peak, Jiuyou was in no hurry to enter seclusion to refine the Jinli Stone. Within moments, he left his cave dwelling again and headed straight for Zhou Chengshan's residence.

Upon meeting, he didn't beat around the bush, stating his purpose directly: he wanted to consult the subsequent techniques of the Daoyang Ten Palaces Art. His attitude was earnest and eager, seamlessly playing the part of a cultivator desperate to break through a bottleneck without leaving a trace of pretense.

Zhou Chengshan proved quite straightforward, raising a hand to pass over a jade slip.

Jiuyou took the jade slip and probed it with his divine sense. Scanning it briefly, he gained a clear picture of its contents. The manual linked seamlessly with what he had already cultivated, its opening half largely matching his own foundation. The subsequent sections pointed straight toward the Deity Transformation Realm, extending all the way into Mid-Stage Deity Transformation—a development that caught him entirely by surprise.

According to the records, achieving Deity Transformation through this technique required the Unity of the Ten Palaces, merging them into one's natal Nascent Soul. Drawing upon that power, a cultivator could forcefully strengthen their Nascent Soul and divine soul, merging the two into one to manifest a primordial spirit, which would then fuse with the physical body.

Once a cultivator successfully stepped into the Deity Transformation Realm, the outer shell of the Nascent Soul dissolved, and the primordial spirit took its place. Worldly origin energy would endlessly replenish them on its own, without draining the reserves of the dantian. After the primordial spirit aligned with the Dao, one could wield preliminary mastery over the five elemental rules of the world, truly transcending mortal limits. The physical body completed its sacred transformation, and lifespan surged from a thousand years to two thousand, granting the power to shift short distances through the void and probe across thousands of li with divine sense.

After finishing the text, Jiuyou was deeply shaken. Only now did he gain an initial understanding of the Deity Transformation stage—it truly was formidable beyond measure.

He checked it one last time, satisfied it wasn't a forgery, before stowing the jade slip and cupping his hands in farewell to Zhou Chengshan.

When he stepped out of Zhou Chengshan's residence, his stride remained measured, as if he had merely picked up an ordinary cultivation scroll. Yet the contents of that jade slip were already turning over in his mind again and again.

After leaving the residence, Jiuyou intended to return straight to Ember Sword Peak, but his pace slowed as he passed a training square. Near the edge of the square, two disciples were supporting a figure drenched in blood. The man's breath was faint, but a thread of life still clung to him.

Jiuyou recognized the figure's back.

Old Man Wave Chaser.

With a subtle sweep of his divine sense over Old Man Wave Chaser's injuries, Jiuyou quickly saw the full picture: a single blow to the chest, struck with pinpoint precision. It had left him severely injured without damaging his foundation, sparing even his meridians and dantian—almost as if the assailant had deliberately left him alive.

Jiuyou's brow twitched almost imperceptibly. Such restraint was unlike the usual style of demonic cultivators. Even ordinary cultivators facing an enemy would rarely show such mercy.

With a blur of movement, he landed at the edge of the training square.

The young disciple supporting Old Man Wave Chaser jumped in fright, but upon recognizing the newcomer, he hurriedly bowed. "Sixth Elder!"

Jiuyou said nothing. Taking out a healing pill, he handed it to the disciple and signaled for him to feed it to Old Man Wave Chaser.

Once the pill dissolved in his stomach, Old Man Wave Chaser's complexion eased slightly. Straining to prop himself up, he cupped his hands toward Jiuyou. "Thank you, Elder, for saving my life."

Jiuyou raised a hand and pressed him back down, his tone flat. "No need for ceremony. What happened to you?"

Old Man Wave Chaser drew a deep breath and slowly recounted the events. He had taken several disciples on orders to investigate the total disappearance of the Flying Snow Sect. A minor subordinate sect under the Daoyang Sect, the Flying Snow Sect was inconspicuous, yet it still had a sect master at the Nascent Soul Early Stage presiding over it.

Yet roughly half a month ago, the entire sect had vanished into thin air—no living souls, no corpses. By the time they arrived at the Flying Snow Sect, they found blood staining the mountains and fields, but not a single body and no signs of a struggle, as though the people had simply stood there and allowed themselves to be slaughtered one by one.

Unable to uncover any clues, they had no choice but to head back. On their return journey, however, they received an urgent distress transmission from an affiliated market town.

By the time they arrived, they caught a black-robed figure in the midst of a massacre within the market town. With casual flicks of his fingers, several rogue cultivators dropped dead, their souls extracted on the spot with clean efficiency.

As Old Man Wave Chaser described the stranger's movement techniques and habits, a palpable dread crept into his voice. Upon spotting them, the figure hadn't uttered a single word, nor had he pursued them far. With just a casual strike, he had battered Old Man Wave Chaser into his current state.

"What was his background?" Jiuyou asked.

Old Man Wave Chaser shook his head. "I don't know, but contrary to the rumors outside, I don't believe he was from the Guiming Sect. I've dealt with the Guiming Sect for over a century; I know their methods well. This man's spiritual energy was entirely different from theirs—it was definitely not from the Nether Ghost Luo Art. He was too clean in his work, completely unlike the Guiming Sect's usual style."

Jiuyou did not answer immediately.

He stood there, seemingly piecing those words together with the scattered news he had gathered earlier: the disappearances among the small and medium sects, the battle against the beast kings in the west, the black-robed figure in the market town...

Only after the disciples helped Old Man Wave Chaser into the distance did Jiuyou withdraw his gaze and turn toward Ember Sword Peak. He walked slowly as the wind swept over the mountain ridge, carrying the scent of pine resin and snow.

He didn't stop until he reached the entrance of his cave dwelling, looking up at the ash-gray horizon for a long moment.

Southern Frost had indeed grown much livelier lately. If the black-robed man wasn't from the Guiming Sect, then regardless of whether he was connected to the cultivator hunting beast kings in the west, his method of slaughtering people and harvesting souls seemed far more like the handiwork of the Blood Abyss Sect.

The thought turned over in his mind, leaving his expression unchanged.