Netherworld Painted Skin Scroll

Chapter 423 is quite rustic.
Zhou Xiang looked around into the darkness: "Your sect's training ground? Is it nearby?"

Li Wuxiang said calmly, "He's not here. But I can take you there."

Zhou Xiang's heart skipped a beat—what did he mean? What kind of supernatural power was he talking about? Send me there!?
He hesitated for a moment, then looked at Kong Youxin in his arms, knowing that Li Wuxiang was right. Just now, when he confronted that infant immortal, his aura was already extremely terrifying. His little disciple had fainted simply because of the fortune they had stirred up. He really couldn't bear to watch the battle.

Moreover, he was genuinely curious about how Li Wuxiang planned to send him to his sect's training ground.

He nodded: "That's fine."

Li Wuxiang extended his hand: "Brother Zhou, please."

Zhou Xiang took his hand. In an instant, everything went black and then bright again. He found himself no longer in the withered yellow field, but standing in a courtyard, holding Kong Youxin!

This was the most dilapidated and shabby courtyard he had ever seen in his life, and he couldn't imagine what it would be like to live here for a long time.

But his attention quickly shifted away from his surroundings and to the group of people in front of him.

These must be the Sword Sect disciples that Li Wuxiang was referring to. Zhou Xiang's first impression of them was that they were ugly, ugly in different degrees and types.

There were twenty-three people, nine women and fourteen men. Of those he found "acceptable" and "no different from the disciples of Mount Immovable," only three women and two men were decent-looking. The rest were either genuinely ugly or looked ugly because of their hair or skin, and of course, many of them had both.

He had heard that people outside the parish were born deformed due to "indiscriminate mating," but he never imagined it would be to this extent; it was truly unbelievable.

However, these people had a very good demeanor, looking no different from the disciples of Mount Budong. They were calm and composed, and even seemed very enthusiastic. Zhou Xiang wondered if it was just his imagination, but he felt that when they looked at him, there was some curiosity in their eyes, and some suppressed laughter.

Is it because they are all swordsmen? They are all swordsmen, and I am also a swordsman of the ancient Taiyi sect. Therefore, I am very curious about my ancient fellow disciple, and he also behaves very kindly.

He stared at the group of people for a moment, when a man with red hair and a crimson robe stepped out from the crowd. Zhou Xiang found him quite pleasing to the eye.

The man walked with a leisurely gait, one hand behind his back. When Zhou Xiang looked at him, she felt that the way he walked and his posture were somewhat familiar, somewhat similar to Li Wuxiang's temperament.

"Senior Brother Zhou! Ah, I'm so glad to see you!" He stopped two steps in front of Zhou Xiang, his smile even more enthusiastic than that of the other disciples. "I've heard so much about you! I am Zhao Qi, the Great Sword Master of our sect."

Why is Zhao Qi being so polite? Oh, maybe it's not just politeness. Li Wuxiang must have told him about himself, his background, these past few days. Zhou Xiang thought to himself.

He was still holding Kong Youxin in his arms and didn't feel comfortable returning the greeting, so he simply nodded and said, "Master Zhao, I am Zhou Xiang. Greetings."

At this moment, a young woman also came out. With black hair and a plain white Taoist robe, she was the most outstanding among them, even considered beautiful within the parish. However, her temperament was completely different from the others in the parish—her eyes were lively and her expressions were rich; in Zhou Xiang's eyes, she seemed more like a "living person."

She also stopped and raised her hands in a fist salute to Zhou Xiang: "Senior Brother Zhou, I am Xue Baoping."

Zhao Qi hurriedly said, "This is also the Great Sword Master of our sect."

Zhou Xiang nodded to her, but before she could speak, Xue Baoping stepped forward and pressed her hand on Kong Youxin's neck, frowning slightly: "How did she get so badly injured? Come on, leave her to me, I'll take her to get treatment."

After saying this, he reached out and took Kong Youxin from Zhou Xiang's arms—Zhou Xiang was stunned, feeling that these people seemed a little too familiar. Those ugly disciples looked at her as if she were family, Great Sword Master Zhao Qi showed her absolutely no wariness or hostility, and this Great Sword Master Xue was even more unreserved, looking at her disciple as if she were her own…

In that brief moment of surprise, Xue Baoping had already carried Kong Youxin into the main room. Zhao Qi then walked up to him, put his arm around his shoulder, and said, "Haha, Senior Brother Zhou, you've been living a life of hardship these past few days, haven't you? Come, come, let's go inside—"

"Stop watching, everyone disperse, go away, go away—Zhang San!"

Zhou Xiang jumped when she saw an ugly child in the crowd: "Hey! It's here, Master!"

"Go get some food, a big fish, and bring it on quickly!"

"Okay Master!"

The disciples scattered in a chaotic manner, and Zhou Xiang, stumbling along with Zhao Qi, was pulled into the house by his arm. He felt something was amiss—this shouldn't be happening! Why did these people seem so familiar with him? Shouldn't they exchange greetings and then sit down to talk?

When Li Wuxiang said he had sent him to his sect, he was already prepared to be confined to a courtyard!

Or is this how swordsmen outside the sect behave? He had heard about this while still in the sect—Taiyi swordsmen address each other as fellow disciples, and Li Wuxiang had indeed mentioned it earlier. Zhou Xiang had assumed it was just a form of address, never expecting it to be a real thing. He considered himself quite magnanimous and tolerant towards his disciples, but to speak like Zhao Qi and Zhang San just now? He had never even considered it!
Surprisingly, this strange feeling didn't make him uncomfortable. Instead, amidst his slight helplessness, he began to feel comfortable, as if he had jumped off the boat and stepped onto the beach a few days ago—free and liberated.

He took a deep breath and finally smiled: "Okay, I'll try some food from outside the church too."

The two walked arm in arm into the main room and sat down. Zhou Xiang hadn't even settled in his seat yet, still pondering how to speak in a way that would be both friendly and not abrupt, when Zhao Qi turned to the side and winked at him mysteriously: "Senior Brother Zhou, Sun Ji and his mother are also in our sect."

"……what."

Zhou Xiang's heart skipped a beat; she didn't know how to respond. Right, they should know about Sun Ji's situation too. What had Li Wuxiang revealed?

When he was intimate with Sun Ji, he felt like he didn't care about anything else, that he could give up the whole world for her. But now that the effects of the drug she gave him had worn off, he wasn't so infatuated anymore. But thinking of her still made his heart flutter, made him feel sad, confused, and even a little ashamed—what would these swordsmen think if they knew he had fallen in love with a rogue cultivator who robbed travelers? Was this too… too contemptible?
For a moment, he felt as if he had become a clown.

But Zhao Qi said, "Don't worry, we haven't done anything to them. We're treating them well with good food and drink."

He gave a thumbs-up: "Senior Brother Zhou, you're a man of true character! When we first heard about you, we thought you were like those people from the Five Mountains True Form Sect, a heartless and ungrateful hypocrite! But when we heard you and Sun Jicheng got together—never mind what she's like—then you're exactly like that! A man of true character! A chivalrous hero! Just our type! For your sake, we won't do anything to them! Do you want to go see them? They're over there—" Zhao Qi pointed to the east wing: "They're in that room. We drugged them a bit, they're asleep, otherwise there wouldn't be a moment of peace. Our sect leader said, regardless of whether she's sincere or not, we have to wait for you to arrive before we can decide what to do!"

She had been worried that Li Wuxiang would kill her. Sigh. Thinking of this, Zhou Xiang suddenly felt a pang of guilt. After the guilt subsided, the previous shame vanished—was this something they considered "sentimental"?
He forced a smile: "Okay, thank you. I... I'll wait a bit longer. Is she alright?"

"I'm doing great! I just had a big meal, and that's how I fell asleep. The food in our sect is much better than anything outside!"

“Then I won’t rush. But… your sect leader is out fighting the Blood God Sect’s Infant Immortals. I see that you, Great Sword Master Zhao, are also exceptionally powerful. Don’t you want to go and lend a hand?”

Zhao Qi smiled slightly: "That kind of thing is nothing to the sect leader, why should I take action? If you ask me—"

Zhang San ran in from outside the courtyard gate carrying a food box, rushing into the house in one breath. The two sat at a small square table for drinking tea. Zhang San smiled and placed the three-tiered box on the ground, then took out three plates from it and arranged them on the table.

On the plate was a large fish, stewed perfectly, the broth milky white and still steaming. However, when the sect ate fish, the head, tail, and fins were all removed, and even the bones were picked off first. This was the first time in Zhou Xiang's life that he had ever seen a whole fish stewed on a plate—the fish's unseeing eyes were still staring straight at him.

In another plate… he looked down and saw it was fish bones. The kind of fish bones with some fish meat still on the surface, either dried or fried, about ten pieces stacked together. He wasn't sure if they were meant to be eaten or just for show.

The third plate contained what appeared to be some dried vegetables. He couldn't quite identify what they were, but they were all dark and mushy, mixed together with extra, equally dark, mushy oil.

"I've even brought you a master." After arranging the food, Zhang San stacked the three food boxes, pushed the handles aside, and straddled them. He picked up a fish bone from the second plate and started crunching it, as if waiting to hear the two of them talk.

Zhou Xiang was almost stunned by his appearance—are the masters and disciples of the Sword Sect so...so...well, so close?
Zhao Qi frowned: "Is this a place for you? Can't you see there are elders here? Go away!"

"Okay, fine." Zhang San reached into the plate, took another fish bone, and walked out with the food box.

Zhao Qi smiled at Zhou Xiang: "Brother Zhou, you flatter me."

Zhou Xiang hesitated for a moment before saying, "It has a rustic charm."

"What I was going to say was that our sect leader's cultivation level is unfathomable. To put it simply, since our sect leader debuted, we have never fought a battle involving downward compatibility."

"Oh." Zhou Xiang nodded. After thinking for a moment, she asked, "What is backward compatibility?"

"He hasn't fought many people whose cultivation is inferior to his. Our sect leader only challenges the strong. So, dealing with the Blood God Sect's Infant Immortal now? Heh..."

Zhou Xiang believed in Li Wuxiang's strength. He had already believed it when he confronted that infant immortal earlier. When Li Wuxiang cultivated the sword sect's techniques, he was similar to the current Taiyi Sect members, cultivating both the "Minor Tribulation Sword Scripture" and the "Flying Immortal Sword Transformation Chapter." The former enhanced his own strength, while the latter enhanced the power of his flying sword.

In the "Flying Immortal Transformation Sword Chapter," Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, and Nascent Soul correspond to "Blood Qi," "Blood Fiend," and "Blood Qi Gang," respectively. When the sword light behind Li Wuxiang turned blood-red, it meant he had activated Blood Qi Gang.

He himself hadn't reached the Nascent Soul realm of the Lesser Tribulation Sword Scripture, but his ancestors had. Some of his ancestors had reached both the Nascent Soul and Void Return realms. Therefore, in his view, the Nascent Soul Immortals of the Blood God Sect were actually quite strong.

The Infant Immortal needs a swordsman from the Sword Sect as its leader. When Li Wuxiang asked him if Cui Daocheng was among them, Zhou Xiang guessed that the Infant Immortal's leader was Cui Daocheng, the former leader of the Taiyi Sect.

Zhou Xiang found the true energy that Li Wuxiang had previously emitted very familiar; it resembled his own Lesser Tribulation Sword Scripture. Mei Qiulu cultivated the Lesser Tribulation Sword Scripture, so he guessed so too.

Cui Daocheng cultivates the True Immortal Body Dao Chapter, which cannot compare to his Lesser Tribulation Nascent Soul. However, the Blood God Sect's cultivation method has refined the remaining Nascent Souls of the Thirty-Six Sects together with him. According to the sect's elders, such a Nascent Soul Immortal will reach the peak of power upon becoming an Immortal... and will definitely not be weaker than a Lesser Tribulation Nascent Soul!
Li Wuxiang had only reached the Nascent Soul stage at the Great Calamity Mountain a few months ago. When Zhao Qi mentioned his battle with the Blood God Cult's Nascent Soul Immortal, he only said "Hehe," but Zhou Xiang understood why—the other party wanted to demonstrate the power of their Sword Sect.

He didn't actually chuckle to himself, but simply sighed. He really liked Li Wuxiang's dojo, and even more so the atmosphere there. He really didn't want to see this young deity end up with a pyrrhic victory tonight, or even get injured and suffer any lingering health problems.

He hesitated for a moment, then couldn't help but speak: "Great Sword Master Zhao—"

"Brother Zhou."

Suddenly, a sound came from outside the courtyard. Zhou Xiang was slightly startled and quickly got up to look. He saw a light screen appear at the courtyard gate, which was the scene he and Li Wuxiang had been in earlier in the field—Li Wuxiang was standing inside the light screen.

He quickly replied, "Brother Li."

Zhao Qi also stood up quickly, exclaiming in surprise, "Oh my god, the Sect Master actually used the Heavenly Heart Sect's Pointing Moon Mystic Light technique! The last time I saw him use this technique was half a year ago! Rare indeed, extremely rare!" [Note 1]

Li Wuxiang smiled slightly: "Can I still stay in this dojo?"

Zhou Xiang sighed and said, "It's a very good place."

Li Wuxiang nodded: "Alright. Brother Zhou, I don't like to force people to do things they don't want to do, and I prefer to speak my mind. Just now you were worried that Master Mei and I might not be able to be your strong allies. Now you can watch how I kill this so-called Infant Immortal, and then make a decision. I will now use the Heavenly Heart Sect's magic weapon, the Pointing Moon Mystic Light, to perform a ritual. Please observe for a moment, Brother Zhou."

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Wuxiang's figure suddenly shrank. Zhou Xiang immediately realized that this was the magic weapon of the Tianxin Sect rising into the sky, becoming a second moon, and watching over the entire scene.

……

Note 1: What Brother Zhao said is half true. Human Skin didn't actually broadcast certain scenes live before. There was no visual or audio.

(End of this chapter)