Netherworld Painted Skin Scroll

Chapter 363 Disciples of the Divine Blade Sect

Xue Baoping remained silent for a moment, then cautiously withdrew her gaze from Li Guichen's face. She spoke, her voice sounding dry: "Mr. Li, were the Divine Blade Sect disciples you mentioned earlier dressed in black?"

Li Guichen glanced at her, seemingly finding her question strange. Instead of answering, he walked up to her, squatted down, and stared into her eyes: "What's wrong? Can't you see colors clearly?"

He held up a finger and waved it in front of Xue Baoping: "Can you see how many there are?"

“One.” Xue Baoping felt her heart pounding. She really couldn’t understand Li Guichen’s current state… He was usually very normal in his speech and actions, a meticulous and courteous gentleman. Now, thinking back to the time he cut off her head, she could understand. She was infatuated at the time, and if she had to make the decision herself, she would have said no. Then Li Guichen would have had to go to great lengths to get her to agree—she understood that the more you respect the opinion of someone who isn’t thinking clearly, the more trouble they might cause.

But today, just when she realized that the one who had been acting strangely before wasn't him, but herself... she pulled this stunt again.

So she felt that Li Guichen's normal and gentle demeanor had become frightening again. She was really afraid that he would reveal a sinister smile or do something suddenly at any moment!
So she quickly said, "My eyes are fine, it's just... Mr. Li, I think those two people look a bit strange."

Then, he added cautiously, "Don't you think it's strange that the two of them just walked into our house and ignored us? I mean, we both look like practitioners, weren't they afraid? And they just left like that?"

Li Guichen then said "Oh." He stood up and walked away, smiling, "You mean this? Yes, it is strange. I also felt strange when I first saw them yesterday, but it wasn't strange after I learned they were disciples of the Divine Blade Sect—Miss Xue, think back to a day or two ago. At that time, you inexplicably thought Li Wuxiang was a demon from the Eastern Continent. These disciples of the Divine Blade Sect are probably in a similar situation; they've become obsessed with something, and probably don't care about anything except what they're looking for."

This is completely unrelated, okay? Believing Li Wuxiang is from the Eastern Continent is reasonable, at least logically. And the problem isn't with these "Divine Blade Sect disciples," but rather, Li Guichen, why don't you find it strange that they came into the house, walked around, and then left without asking anything?!

Li Guichen was mesmerized. Xue Baoping was now certain.

She tried one last time: "Mr. Li, have you fought against them?"

Li Guichen shook his head: "No. I'm afraid I can't beat them."

"Can't beat it?"

Li Guichen looked at her and smiled: "I do have some special skills, but when it comes to a life-or-death battle, I'm afraid I'm not as good as you were before, so I didn't dare to make a move, not wanting to provoke them. By the way, speaking of this matter, do you feel it now? You have almost no cultivation left."

Xue Baoping had already sensed it. However, in her life so far, few things had gone smoothly, so she didn't pay much attention to it after noticing this. A few days ago, she was struck by the Demon King's supernatural power, the day before yesterday, her head was chopped off, and today she discovered that Li Guichen was acting abnormally. Compared to this, the matter of "losing all her cultivation" was simply too ordinary.

She nodded: "I know. But it's nothing, I'll just continue my cultivation."

Li Guichen smiled approvingly: "It's best that you think this way, and it's the most correct one. Don't you feel that you're more open-minded now, and your mind is no longer filled with those turbulent thoughts from before?"

"Yes... I've come to terms with many things."

“Because you are like an infant now.” Li Guichen sighed. “Back when our Sword Sect was cultivating the Immortal Body Dao Chapter, we had to refine our bodies first, trying to cultivate our physical bodies to this state. But that was too difficult… A person always has many things on their mind, not to mention that while refining the body, the realm is also progressing, so some things will always accumulate.”

“You are different now, as if you have been reborn. This is the state of clear sword heart that we swordsmen pursue. If you continue to cultivate now, you should reach the Golden Core stage faster than before you lost all your cultivation. You can be said to have turned misfortune into blessing.”

When Li Guichen is normal, he is perfectly normal. Xue Baoping was genuinely grateful to him for helping her break the mystery. Now, hearing these words, she finally breathed a sigh of relief and blinked, "Thank you, Mr. Li."

For the rest of the day, Xue Baoping felt a tingling and itchy sensation all over her body, much like the feeling of numbness in one's legs and feet, which slowly subsides. However, that state only lasted for a short while, but she endured it for the entire day. By then, she understood why Li Guichen had trapped her inside the large vase—if it weren't for the vase confining her and preventing her from moving, she would probably be in even more discomfort.

However, all her attention was on Li Guichen. She was observing his reaction—ant nests are very common, especially in abandoned houses like this, where ants are even more prevalent.

Whenever an ant crawled in, Li Guichen would become alert and signal to himself with his eyes not to make any rash moves. Otherwise, he usually spent his time outside sunbathing. He basked in the sun during the day and the moon at night, as if absorbing the essence of the sun and moon. Xue Baoping couldn't help but wonder if this Li Guichen was also a demon? Had he been saved by Li Wuxiang and thus taken his form?

When the day passed and night fell, Xue Baoping knew that she had recovered.

Li Guichen told her half an hour ago that it would be soon, and he even cleaned the soft armor she had been wearing and put it on the ground before going out to sit quietly in the courtyard.

The numbness and itching in her body gradually subsided, and then, as if she had suddenly woken up from a dream, she felt that she could move her hands and feet again, as if her newly grown body had suddenly connected with her brain.

She was trapped in the vase, feeling incredibly uncomfortable, but knew she couldn't break free like this. She twisted and turned inside the vase, wondering if she should call Li Guichen in. But the instant that thought crossed her mind, a sharp crack echoed, the thick porcelain vase shattered into several pieces, and she fell to the ground.

Feeling neither weak nor feeble, she immediately jumped up, as if she had eaten a full meal and slept soundly. She quickly squatted down, picked up her clothes, and dressed. As she did so, she looked at her body in the moonlight streaming in—just as Li Guichen had said, she was like a baby. Her skin, though soft and delicate, seemed remarkably resilient. The armor she wore was leather, but even good leather was hard, producing a metallic sound when struck. The edge of the breastplate grazed her arm, but left not a scratch.

After she was dressed and had put her sword back on her belt and her dagger back on her wrist, she quietly stepped out the door.

Li Guichen was lying sprawled out in the courtyard outside, his arms and legs outstretched. Seeing her come out, he didn't get up, but simply raised his head slightly, looked at her, and smiled, saying, "How are you feeling?"

Xue Baoping bowed to him and said, "Thank you, Mr. Li."

Having cultivated before, she knew how rare her current state was. Her energy was perfectly balanced, her innate Qi was intact, and even her strength and senses were much stronger than before. Although she had lost her cultivation, the techniques were still in her mind, and she hadn't forgotten the swordsmanship she learned from Master Zeng, so she might not be much weaker than before—Li Guichen had truly done a great deed.

Li Guichen then laughed again: "I'm setting off tomorrow to find Li Wuxiang and Xu Zhen. Do you still want to come with me?"

Xue Baoping laughed too: "I'll go."

"Okay, then you should get some rest tonight—"

"Mr. Li, where is the child I brought?"

Li Guichen gestured towards the white horse standing by the wall: "Don't rush her. You've gained something this time, and she'll get something too. It's just that hers will be a little slower. Wait a few more days and it will be about right."

He shouldn't be crazy about something like this. Xue Baoping nodded, "Alright. I'll go out for a walk first—I've been so bored these past few days, I want some fresh air, and I also want to go see the people from the Divine Blade Sect." "You…sigh." Li Guichen sighed, "Go ahead and go if you want, but be careful."

After saying this, he pointed to the wall and said, "From what I've observed these past few days, they've recruited quite a few people locally and developed many branch camps."

Xue Baoping looked in the direction he pointed and saw an ant nest by the wall.

"These disciples of the Divine Blade Sect are so engrossed in their cultivation that they're hardly human anymore. But these days, nothing is surprising—I have to keep an eye on you these next few days and can't leave. I can only keep an eye on the people in this branch of our sect. I can't leave right now either; my cultivation method is a bit complicated. If you want to go out and see for yourself, go ahead. Xu Zhen's supernatural powers are so strong; I'm really afraid I'll be bewitched by them myself these next few days. You're currently in the state of Clear Sword Heart, so it's difficult for you to enter into delusions. Perhaps you'll see something different from what I see."

Each of his words sounded normal on its own, but put together they sounded like ravings of a madman. Xue Baoping quickly nodded and hurried out of the courtyard.

As soon as she stepped out of the courtyard, she felt a sense of relief.

Xu Zhen on Dapan Mountain was terrifying, but Li Guichen in the courtyard now also made her feel very nervous and worried. She really wanted to leave him and get away from him, but Xiao E was still in the white horse's belly... She really didn't know if he really wanted to help her or was using her as a hostage.

She walked for a while in the darkness, avoiding some broken walls and ruins. As her eyes gradually adjusted to the night, she could see some lights in the ruins of the city—those must be the refugees who were resting here.

A thought popped into her mind—she knew what she was doing when she was engrossed, but what she really wanted to do was something else entirely.

Li Guichen is currently so engrossed that he doesn't realize he's lost in a trance. If we could make him realize this, he might be able to break free with his abilities. It's easier said than done—just crush an ant in front of him and dig up its nest, and he should come to his senses.

The reason she didn't do that was because she wanted to first figure out whether only Li Guichen had been affected, or whether everyone in Yehuang Island City had been affected.

She chose a nearby firelight and walked towards it. It looked close, but it took her almost half an hour to get there.

There were six people sitting around the fire, seemingly divided into two groups of two and four. The two people were two men, thin but not too frail, appearing to be brothers. The four people were likely a family: an elderly couple, a middle-aged son, and a teenage son.

The six people were warming themselves by a fire, but they all looked tense. It wasn't that they were wary of each other, but rather that they were all leaning against the broken wall behind them, their eyes fixed on the ground beside them. Xue Baoping immediately knew the answer: they were all engrossed—because they were looking at a line of ants on the ground, seemingly terrified!

What's going on with Xu Zhen's supernatural abilities?

At least when she was on Dapan Mountain, his abilities weren't this strong. Back then, it would take him several sentences to captivate her. But hearing Li Guichen say that "the Divine Blade Sect's influence is gradually expanding"—she guessed that this meant Xu Zhen's supernatural powers were gradually spreading out, and in the past few days, they had already extended to the vicinity of Yehuang Island.

If we take Dapan Mountain as the center and extend all the way to Yehuang Island... how big is that area?
Her mind was perfectly clear now. She knew that Xu Zhen had been hiding in Qingpu Mountain after arriving in the Central Plains to conceal his whereabouts. But now he had caused such a major incident affecting so many people—wasn't he afraid that Senior Sister Mei would find out and come to eliminate him? Had he gone mad or something?
She frowned slightly and strode towards the six people. The six saw her as she turned from behind the broken wall, their eyes darting back and forth between her and the ants, seemingly surprised that she wasn't afraid, and afraid that she had alerted the "Divine Blade Sect disciples".

Xue Baoping walked two steps away from the middle-aged son and stopped, asking directly, "Can you see them?"

The six people looked at each other, not daring to say a word.

Xue Baoping didn't waste any words and pointed to the middle-aged son: "Tell me, what do they look like?"

They still dared not speak. Xue Baoping then gripped the hilt of the knife and pulled the blade out a bit: "Didn't you hear me?"

She had lost all her cultivation, but her aura was so overwhelming that the man finally spoke: "Heroine... can't you... can't you see yourself?"

The two brothers next to her were more astute, seemingly sensing that her question must stem from something they didn't yet understand, and quickly interjected, "We can see it, we can see it, it's just... ah, this one dressed in black, black, um..."

He seemed tongue-tied, but his hands were skillful. He picked up a pebble from the ground and sketched a few lines while he was speaking.

This person's drawing is very lifelike; with just a few strokes, he has sketched out the figure—it looks like a person wearing a large helmet and iron armor. He holds a knife in each hand, and four more arms extend from behind him, also holding knives.

He finished sketching and looked up at Xue Baoping: "Heroine, no, fairy, shouldn't we be able to see them? Are these the soul-reaping messengers of the underworld? They're terrifying! They come and go without paying any attention to us. Is it because our lifespans haven't ended yet?"

This is what they and Li Guichen saw? People with six arms? Don't you find that strange?!

In their view of the world, the entire Yehuang Island, and the courtyard where they and Li Guichen were staying, should be filled with such people walking around everywhere!

“They are not human.” Xue Baoping looked at them. “Do you know what ants are? They are ants, crawling on the ground right in front of you.”

The six people were stunned, and then shrank back, as if they had heard some crazy talk.

Xue Baoping glanced again at the outline the person had drawn on the ground, thought about it for a moment, shook her head, sighed, and bent down to catch the ant: "You watch."

She easily picked one up, about to crush it between her fingertips—

Suddenly, I heard the sound of wind breaking!

It was extremely sharp and piercing, like the sound of wind breaking right next to you!
She immediately turned to dodge, but it was too late—four crisp clanging sounds rang out, and four white marks immediately appeared on the soft armor on her chest.

There were two more sounds, but they were the sounds of blades piercing flesh—a bloody flower bloomed on her left shoulder, and a new knife wound appeared on her right calf.

She could only roll away two or three steps, then crouch down and draw her sword.

All around him were disciples of the Divine Blade Sect, clad in black armor, with six arms and wielding six black swords!
(End of this chapter)