Chapter 117: Chapter 115: The Demon Dao of Demon Daos, the Gui Chen Sect
After stowing the ancient Jade Scroll recording the Wood Element Command Skill, Qi Yun did not leave right away.
’In such an important place, it’s impossible that only a single Jade Scroll was left behind by accident.’
He sent the Thousand Crane Talismans fanning out again, casting an invisible reconnaissance net to conduct a more thorough, sweeping search of the massive, abandoned Medicinal Garden.
As the Thousand Crane Talismans delved deeper into the more central, dilapidated areas of the Medicinal Garden, the scenes they fed back caused Qi Yun’s expression to grow grim.
’Something’s not right... The people in this Medicinal Garden don’t seem to have evacuated normally. It’s more like... they were forced by something to flee in a panic.’
Further in, sporadic and bizarre traces began to appear on the remaining walls, the cracked ground, and even the surfaces of the massive Pill Furnaces.
They were footprints, black as ink.
The edges of the footprints were blurry, as if they were made by something coated in a viscous liquid, with splatters staining the surrounding area.
Moreover, the shape of these footprints was vaguely recognizable as human.
But their color and condition exuded an ominous air.
’Bloody footprints?’ Alarm bells rang in Qi Yun’s mind as a chill crept up his spine.
This was not a sight one would expect in abandoned ruins.
Sensing the strange danger that permeated the air, Qi Yun acted decisively. He formed a hand seal, preparing to recall all the Thousand Crane Talismans and immediately flee this place of trouble.
Treasures were good, but one had to be alive to enjoy them.
Just as the thought of retreating arose in his mind, something unexpected happened!
PUFF!
PUFF!
PUFF!
His spiritual connection to several Thousand Crane Talismans in the deepest part of the Medicinal Garden was abruptly severed.
It was as if they had been instantly snuffed out by something.
Something was destroying the Thousand Crane Talismans.
And it was extremely fast.
At almost the exact same instant that Qi Yun realized he had lost contact with the Thousand Crane Talismans—
RUMBLE!
The ground beneath his feet suddenly began to tremble violently and rapidly, as if some colossal creature was tearing through the soil at an astonishing speed, hurtling straight toward his position.
That violent, putrid stench was already rushing toward him, even through the layers of earth!
His gaze sharpened instantly, and Qi Yun reacted as fast as lightning.
With a single thought, he instantly recalled all the White Bone Skeletons and Abyssal Iron Sand.
His figure then flickered as he activated Gathering Form and Scattering Qi.
His entire being abruptly transformed into a formless, intangible wisp of ethereal Pure Qi, completely merging with the surrounding environment.
Merely a few seconds after Qi Yun’s figure dissipated—
BOOM!!!
A figure, wrapped in a nauseatingly foul and rancid wind, shot up from a blasted-open patch of ground in the depths of the Medicinal Garden like a cannonball, then crashed heavily to the earth.
The terrifying force of the impact shattered the hard ground, and spiderweb-like cracks spread out frantically!
As the dust settled slightly, the monster’s true form was revealed.
It was, shockingly, a humanoid being.
But its entire body had been completely flayed, exposing well-developed, dark red muscle fibers and bluish-black blood vessels, making for a horrifying sight.
Even more bizarrely, strange, twisted flower branches with vibrant, alluring colors were growing on the surface of this skinless body.
These branches swayed slightly as if they were alive, their roots digging directly into the flesh and blood!
As soon as the skinless monster covered in flower branches landed, a pair of eyes—uncovered by eyelids, completely exposed, and shot with blood—slowly swiveled.
Brimming with an inhuman coldness and greed, it carefully scanned its surroundings, its nostrils flaring as if desperately searching for any lingering trace of Qi Yun’s aura.
Fortunately, the concealment effect of Gathering Form and Scattering Qi far surpassed that of the ordinary Clear Wind Technique Qi Yun had previously cultivated.
The strange man-thing sensed and searched for a long time, but ultimately failed to discover Qi Yun, who had already transformed into Pure Qi and merged perfectly with his surroundings.
Hidden in the shadows, Qi Yun was slightly stunned after getting a clear look at the monster’s appearance. A name he had only ever seen in ancient texts surfaced in his mind:
’Human Body Cultivation?!
Could this place... be a Medicinal Garden of the Gui Chen Sect?’
The Gui Chen Sect!
A Sect whose name sounded quite otherworldly and detached from mortal affairs.
In reality, however, they were the most demonic of the Demon Dao, the most depraved of the depraved.
If the Wuji Holy Sect was known for its scheming, plotting, and survival of the fittest,
then the Gui Chen Sect was utter madness.
Aside from themselves, they viewed no other living being in the world as truly alive.
According to scattered records in ancient texts, the Gui Chen Sect believed that "All things in Heaven and Earth are but dust; the red flower withers, the body is not real."
They believed that everything in the world would eventually return to dust, and thus they acted without restraint, completely without scruples.
As a Sect founded on the Alchemy Dao, the Gui Chen Sect conducted a series of horrific experiments that made even their fellow Demon Dao practitioners’ blood run cold and their brows furrow in disgust.
The most infamous of these was this "Human Body Cultivation."
The Gui Chen Sect believed that the human body was the spiritual pinnacle of all creation, a small world unto itself, and the most perfect Medicine Cauldron.
By cultivating Spirit Medicines in the bodies of living people, they could simulate the natural way of Heaven and Earth, nurturing peerless Treasure Medicines with miraculous effects.
Driven by this near-paranoid and fanatical philosophy of seeking the Dao, the Gui Chen Sect quickly drew the combined wrath of all the Righteous Sects and even the imperial families of the secular dynasties, who joined forces to annihilate them.
Meanwhile, the other major Demon Dao sects, secretly wary of their overly extreme and uncontrollable nature, did not lift a finger to help.
In the end, the Gui Chen Sect was utterly destroyed by the allied forces of the Righteous Dao and the imperial families.
It was a fitting end, echoing the phrase they themselves often repeated—all things in Heaven and Earth eventually return to dust.
To think that this Fuluo Province, which had sunk into the Cold Abyss and was later salvaged by the Holy Sect, had once been a Medicinal Garden of the Gui Chen Sect.
This skinless flower corpse before him was likely a terrifying product left over from the "Human Body Cultivation" experiments of the past.
’Did they lose control?’
Concealed in his Pure Qi state, Qi Yun calmly watched the skinless flower corpse wandering and searching amidst the ruins, pondering to himself.
It seemed this Medicinal Garden had been hastily abandoned by the Gui Chen Sect back then.
Most likely because these bizarre creations had gotten out of control.
However, upon closer observation, Qi Yun did not sense any aura of Cultivation fluctuations from the flower corpse.
This indicated that the monster before him had likely only undergone some kind of terrifying physical mutation.
It did not possess the Realm or Magical Power of a Cultivator.
But even so, Qi Yun had no intention of engaging it.
A being that could force a fanatical Sect like the Gui Chen Sect to abandon an important Medicinal Garden must have its own terrifying aspects, perhaps hiding unknown, strange abilities.
It was better to avoid unnecessary trouble.
Risking a direct confrontation with something of unknown origin was by no means a wise move.
With stability as his top priority, the Pure Qi that was Qi Yun silently retreated, quickly moving away from the ominous ruins of the Medicinal Garden.
There might be more precious treasures hidden in the garden, but the risk simply wasn’t worth the potential reward.
The Blood Floating Luos on the outskirts of Fuluo Province, which could significantly improve his Cultivation, had already made this trial more than worthwhile.
There was no need to stir up trouble here.
With clear thoughts and decisive action, Qi Yun quickly left the area completely.
...
However, about half a day after Qi Yun had left, a few rather bedraggled figures also followed some faint tracks and unexpectedly found the Medicinal Garden ruins hidden deep within the poisonous rain.
"To be hidden so deep, and on this scale... This place is definitely no ordinary location."
Looking up at the dilapidated but still recognizably magnificent mountain gate and building outlines before them, a greedy glint erupted in the eyes of several Outer Mansion Disciples.
They had tasted the sweetness of refining Treasure Medicines from Blood Floating Luos on the periphery.
Now, seeing these ancient ruins in the heartland of Fuluo Province, they naturally assumed that an even greater opportunity must be hidden within.
"The Blood Floating Luos on the outskirts were already that miraculous. The treasures deeper in must be insane!" one of them whispered excitedly.
After experiencing the two horrific, bloody battles of Da Wu Mountain and the Peach Garden, the current Holy Sect’s Outer Mansion Disciples’ desire for power had already swelled to the extreme.
The few of them suppressed their wariness of the faint sense of danger in the environment and rushed impatiently toward the stretch of broken walls and ruins.
...
「Several days later.」
Having successfully wiped out another Demon Snake nest and harvested over three hundred more Blood Floating Luos, Qi Yun returned to the ancient altar he had discovered earlier.
This time, he wasn’t in a hurry to refine the newly acquired Blood Floating Luos into Treasure Medicines.
Instead, he focused his attention more on the altar itself.
The altar appeared to be crudely and simply built from randomly piled stones, but when Qi Yun used his current Divine Sense to carefully perceive it, he could detect that its internal structure secretly conformed to some kind of natural Daoist Intent.
The placement of the stones contained a marvelous rhythm and pathways for the flow of Dharma Light, proclaiming the altar’s extraordinary nature.
After staring at the altar for a long while, a bold idea rose in Qi Yun’s mind.
’If I could take this entire altar with me, and then find a way to artificially cultivate Blood Floating Luos...
... wouldn’t that be like owning a ’money-printing machine’ that endlessly produces Cultivation Treasure Medicines?’
Once this thought arose, it was impossible to suppress.
No sooner said than done!
Qi Yun immediately activated the Abyssal Iron Sand, forming it into two giant excavating hands, and began digging beneath the altar’s base.
He carefully clawed away the hard layers of soil and rock,
attempting to uproot the entire altar and place it into his Storage Magical Artifact.
But as he dug deeper, Qi Yun was surprised to find that while the part of the altar above ground was only a few meters tall, its foundation underground was far deeper than he imagined, reaching more than ten meters down.
Fortunately, the Abyssal Iron Sand was indestructible and possessed infinite strength.
Under his full control, he forcibly cleared away all the earth and rock from around the altar,
exposing its complete foundational structure.
"Rise!"
Qi Yun let out a low shout, pushing all the Abyssal Iron Sand to its limit. It formed into two colossal, sky-supporting hands that locked tightly onto the altar’s base and, with a sudden exertion of force, yanked it upward!
RUMBLE—!!!
At the same moment the altar was forcibly pulled from its original position,
an extremely muffled, deep boom, as if originating from the depths of the earth, suddenly erupted. It seemed some kind of Restriction had been broken.
The entire Fuluo Province Secret Realm began to tremble and shake violently in response.
Mountains quaked, the ground split open, and even the poisonous rain in the sky fell into disarray!
Staring in astonishment at the huge altar he had forcibly uprooted, now floating in mid-air, and feeling the vibrations beneath his feet that seemed to threaten to tear the very land apart, Qi Yun gave a sheepish smile.
’Whoops. I think I just caused a disaster.’
...
