Chapter 183: Chapter 119: A Dissipating Technique Without Harming the Foundation
The three Dissipating Techniques Jiang Che found were the Ash Vein Technique, the Reversing Tide Technique, and the Erosion Sun Scripture.
All three were sample copies. When opened, they only had an introduction at the beginning, with the rest of the pages blank.
Jiang Che looked at them one by one.
First was the Ash Vein Technique.
’The Ash Vein Technique. It inflicts the most damage to one’s foundation after dissipating a skill, but allows for greater retention of Qi Blood.’
Jiang Che shook his head.
’My Root Bone is already poor. If my foundation is damaged further, accumulating Qi Blood will be even slower.’
’Then, with the same Cultivation Resources, others could utilize 90% while I’d probably only manage 30%.’
Next, he moved on to the Reversing Tide Technique.
’This one causes little damage to the foundation, but a lot of Qi Blood is lost.’
Jiang Che wasn’t particularly satisfied with this one either.
’The Qi Blood would be purified, but it would all be dissipated.’
Finally, he looked at the last manual, the Erosion Sun Scripture.
’No damage to the foundation, and Qi Blood doesn’t decrease—it increases!’
Jiang Che was stunned. ’How can something this good exist?’
He continued reading.
’It requires a certain Highly Poisonous medicinal herb as a catalyst. The poison is incurable. For every Qi Blood Realm Technique dissipated, one’s lifespan is reduced by twenty years. For every True Skill dissipated, it’s reduced by fifty years.’
Jiang Che sighed.
’So... it’s true. There’s no such thing as a perfect deal in this world!’
Just as he was struggling to decide which one to choose, a possibility suddenly occurred to him.
’Wait a minute... It says the poison from the catalyst reduces lifespan, not that the technique itself does...’
Jiang Che’s eyes grew brighter and brighter.
’My Black Abyss Form is immune to all poisons. Does that mean...?’
His heart began to pound.
If this was feasible, it meant that dissipating his skills would not only have no drawbacks, but would actually be beneficial!
However, the introduction didn’t specify which poisonous herb was needed.
To find out, he would have to buy the Secret Manual.
’Whatever. I’ll just buy it first. I can look for that poisonous herb and test it later...’
Having made up his mind, Jiang Che picked up the sample of the Secret Manual.
But he didn’t leave right away. Instead, he continued to browse.
He picked up a copy of the Hundred Facets Technique and began to read.
’It teaches how to make Human Skin Masks, and there’s also the Bone Shrinking Skill...’
Jiang Che’s interest was piqued. ’Isn’t this the Wuxiang Alliance’s Disguise Technique?’
’Not bad, not bad. I’ll make a note of this one!’
He continued to browse and found several other interesting manuals.
These included the Hundred Gu Scripture for raising Gu Insects, the Thousand Mechanism Technique for making mechanisms and traps, the Enchanting God Technique for hypnosis and creating illusions, the Spiritual Connection Scripture for taming beasts, the Thousand Ears Manual for cultivating herbs, the Hundred Sounds Chant for vocal mimicry, and even a pickpocketing art, the Cloud-Exploring Hand.
However, Jiang Che decided to focus on his cultivation for now, and he couldn’t spend his money recklessly, so he decided to come back and redeem them later.
Subsequently, he went to the first floor, borrowed ten more books of miscellaneous Jianghu records, and then purchased the Erosion Sun Scripture.
The old Taoist priest managing the Scripture Pavilion, Master Zhang, was stunned to see the Erosion Sun Scripture. He said,
"Are you sure you want to purchase this Dissipating Technique? Using this to dissipate your skill will shorten your life! Don’t blame me for not warning you!"
Jiang Che said, "Please don’t worry, Master. I’m not going to practice it. I just want to use it for reference, to get some ideas."
Master Zhang nodded and said, "Alright. One hundred taels of gold."
Jiang Che took out a gold note and handed it over.
It stung to lose one hundred taels of gold in an instant.
Back at home, Jiang Che opened the Erosion Sun Scripture.
’This... is actually a Demon Sect Technique!’
Jiang Che was a little surprised.
It turned out that the Erosion Sun Scripture was a sinister method devised by members of the Demon Sect to rapidly advance their cultivation.
First, they would find and practice multiple cultivation techniques that didn’t require high Root Bone or aptitude and could be mastered quickly.
Then, using this Dissipating Technique, they would dissipate all of them.
This way, they could obtain a vast and exceptionally pure reserve of Qi Blood.
By repeating this process, they could quickly break through to a higher Realm.
Although it would drastically shorten their lifespan, it was still a tempting offer for those with average Root Bone who wanted to rapidly increase their strength.
Moreover, some Demon Sects would specifically capture orphans and raise them as Death Warriors.
These people’s lives were considered cheap; as long as they could fight, their short lifespans didn’t matter.
However, Jiang Che didn’t care whether it was a Demon Sect Technique or not.
’As long as it doesn’t shorten my lifespan, then this isn’t a Demon Sect Technique—it’s the most righteous technique of all!’
’Let’s see what the medicinal catalyst is...’
Jiang Che continued flipping to the page on the medicinal catalyst and saw three words written on it: Withered Soul Grass.
’Withered Soul Grass... I’ve never heard of it.’
But Jiang Che was already prepared.
Among the ten miscellaneous records he had borrowed, one of them mentioned the various medicinal herbs of Cangzhou Prefecture.
It was a book titled Cangzhou Flora and Fauna Record.
Jiang Che immediately opened it and started searching.
When he was about halfway through, he found a relevant entry.
"...*Withered Soul Grass, also known as ’Soul-breaking Wormwood’ or ’Dispersing Grass,’ is so named because its poison erodes the soul and shortens one’s lifespan, and those who consume it often wither away and die*..."
"...*Its stem resembles a withered bone, its leaves are as fine as needles with dark purple veins on the edges. To harvest it, one must sever its taproot, as it withers upon contact with the wind*..."
"...*It grows in the crevices of sheer cliffs, in dark, damp, and miasmic places. It is currently found only in Cangzhou’s Cloud Mist Ridge, a place shrouded in clouds year-round, with perilous cliffs, deep ravines, and infested with venomous creatures*..."
Jiang Che was startled. ’It’s in Cloud Mist Ridge!’
He had just voluntarily turned down an opportunity to enter Cloud Mist Ridge, only to find that the Withered Soul Grass was located right there!
’Looks like I’ll have to find a way to make a trip there after all...’
However, he did not act rashly.
Instead, he first went to a Pharmacy to ask if they sold Withered Soul Grass.
If he could buy it, he wouldn’t have to go to the trouble of personally visiting Cloud Mist Ridge.
However, after asking at several shops, they all said they didn’t have it.
They said the herb could only be freshly picked in Cloud Mist Ridge.
No one had any in stock.
Left with no other choice, Jiang Che then went to gather information about Cloud Mist Ridge.
As for who to ask...
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