Gentlemen, it's time to enter the Banner of Ten Thousand Souls.

Chapter 255 Flesh and Blood Turn into Talismans and Bones Turn into Sand
It hasn't been many days since I last cultivated the Netherworld Hell.

But Chen Ye felt as if many years had passed. He could only say that so much had happened and he had been too busy during that time that he had misjudged the time.

While the Demonic Sect has not yet fully recovered, Chen Ye can calm down and start cultivating again.

Having witnessed the destructive power of Wujiu Demon Lord's slap that could destroy a hundred miles, Chen Ye desperately hoped to continue improving his cultivation, to reach the Dao Integration Realm in his final breath, and then become invincible.

Of course, this is wishful thinking. The idea of ​​ascending to immortality in three years is a complete joke. Now, almost two years have passed, and Chen Ye is only at the Profound Realm, not even close to the Nascent Soul stage.

Aim high, but practice diligently.

Chen Ye reminded himself of this, then spread out the books in front of him and began to study them carefully.

The first book was the "Eight-Nine Arcane Arts" that Qu Heng had tricked from that Soulfire Little Man. Chen Ye studied it carefully and then let out a sneer.

"This is truly a meticulously planned scheme. This is not the first half at all; it is clearly a middle section that has been edited and abridged. It only contains the methods for body tempering and transformation, but it completely lacks the key to entering the path of cultivation."

Chen Ye was so certain simply because he had read too many books.

During the period of copying books, Chen Ye glanced at most of them and then categorized them before sending them to his subordinates for copying.

Occasionally, I would copy a few books myself to broaden my knowledge.

The Incense Burning Sect has a very rich collection of books, and Chen Ye does not seek any profound methods, but only focuses on making up for his lack of basic knowledge.

Just like a student who loves studying mathematics, no matter how talented, they can't calculate all the mathematical formulas in their entire life. But many basic formulas have already been figured out by predecessors. Just showing them to Chen Ye can save him a lot of time in verification. Combining this with what he has learned, Chen Ye's understanding of cultivation becomes even more profound.

He didn't have this insight before, but now he can see through the problems with this "Eight-Nine Arcane Arts" at a glance.

The content itself is correct, but the missing parts are carefully selected so that they are not something one can learn from.

But Chen Ye wasn't worried, because he had more than one copy of "Eight-Nine Arcane Arts".

Wujiu Demon Lord was originally a disciple of the Fenxiang Sect. When he first started cultivating the "Eight-Nine Arcane Arts," he hadn't yet been betrayed by the Fenxiang Sect. Of course, he would send a share of such a good thing back to the Fenxiang Sect.

Chen Ye had another version of the "Eight-Nine Arcane Arts" in his possession, and it was a complete version, which he had copied from the library.

However, a closer comparison reveals that the Soulfire Little Man version of "Eight-Nine Arcane Arts" is still an improved version.

This is not surprising; techniques are static, but people are dynamic.

The cultivation environment was different millions of years ago, so the cultivation methods could not be completely adapted to today.

Moreover, if a person dedicates their entire life to improving a martial art, it may not necessarily be inferior to the original.

Just like Zhang Qi's swordsmanship, if the technique was at its best at the moment of its creation, then where has Zhang Qi made any progress over the past thousand years? He has only been going downhill the whole time.

The Soulfire Little Man's "Eight-Nine Arcane Arts" cultivation method is more refined and efficient than the original version, which must have been refined and modified over many years.

However, the essence of the two cultivation methods is no different. Both aim to cultivate the physical body to the point where it can gather and disperse at will, combining strength and gentleness, and can freely transform into any form.

Chen Ye took out the two copies of "Eight-Nine Mysterious Techniques", compared them, and then boldly modified them according to his own understanding, finally producing a new version of "Eight-Nine Mysterious Techniques".

The overall changes weren't too significant, but they were more suitable for Chen Ye's own characteristics.

This is the benefit of understanding the principles of cultivation. Chen Ye knew why he needed to make changes and what the effects would be after the changes, instead of just reciting from the book and even treating the typos as having "ulterior motives".

"The first step in cultivating the Eight-Nine Mystic Arts is to refine the body using ancient methods to achieve the effect of superior body tempering. Not only that, but one must also use innate materials to cultivate the physical body to the innate realm... This step alone makes most cultivators hesitate. Where in this world can one find so many innate materials?"

Chen Ye sighed inwardly, no wonder no one from the Incense Burning Sect had mastered the "Eight-Nine Arcane Skill" in all these years.

The highest level of body refinement is not difficult, just arduous. Chen Ye endured excruciating pain but still managed to complete it. The real trouble lies in the two words "innate".

Chen Ye looked at the ginseng fruit in the palm of the ancient Buddha. In all his years of cultivation, the only innate object he had ever heard of or seen was this ginseng fruit.

Chen Ye's innate physique also came about by chance. If he hadn't used the aura of the ginseng fruit to cultivate during his body tempering, it would have been impossible for his physical body to transform into an innate physique.

After finding the Eight-Nine Arcane Arts, the Demon Lord Wujiu was unable to master it for a period of time. Later, he obtained a green lotus and transformed his physical body into a pre-natal form. He then began to cultivate the Eight-Nine Arcane Arts, and his cultivation advanced by leaps and bounds.

This matter is described vaguely in the books of the Incense Burning Sect, and has been recorded in various euphemistic ways.

Even the name of the "Eight-Nine Arcane Technique" has been changed. In the library of the Incense Burning Sect, this technique is called the "Innate Illusionary Body Technique". The secret technique was provided by a "rogue cultivator who had been kind to the Incense Burning Sect".

In order to conceal the origins of the Demon Lord Wujiu and to cover up the mistakes of the Burning Incense Sect, but without actually abandoning the technique, they added many subtle and euphemistic touches to cover it up.

When Chen Ye flipped through it, he felt something was wrong. This inexplicable technique was placed together with many other secret arts and secret techniques. After careful study, he realized that this thing was the "Eight-Nine Arcane Technique".

But all this effort seems to have been in vain.

The entire Fenxiang Sect has not had a single person who has mastered the "Eight-Nine Arcane Arts," not even Lu Xingzhou himself could learn it.

Because these innate treasures are extremely difficult to find.

Perhaps in the ancient times of creation, the "Eight-Nine Mystic Arts" was not so difficult to cultivate, with innate resources and even innate individuals being commonplace. Now, it truly depends on luck.

Chen Ye was lucky; the Yellow Spring Sect had ginseng fruit, which allowed him to easily overcome the most difficult hurdle.

Next, all that was left was arduous training. Following the instructions in the book, Chen Ye began to twist his body like a pretzel, assuming various postures.

The essence of ginseng fruit and the spiritual energy of heaven and earth flowed into his body, uniquely integrating into Chen Ye's flesh and bones, transforming into billions of tiny runes.

These runes do not provide energy, but rather transform Chen Ye's physical body.

To achieve endless transformations and rebirth from a drop of blood, an ordinary flesh and blood body simply cannot do it. One can only refine one's own body as a magical artifact, transforming oneself into a magical artifact that can change at will and is inexhaustible in its life.

Every moment, Chen Ye felt his body undergoing earth-shattering changes.

Fine golden runes seeped from Chen Ye's pores. These runes, like living things, moved under his skin, gradually decomposing and reconstructing his body. His originally solid muscles melted like wax.

The flesh and blood inside the body seemed to flow, completely separating from the bones.

It's a very strange feeling.

Chen Ye originally thought that this change would cause excruciating damage, just like when he was refining his body. However, practicing the "Eight-Nine Arcane Technique" was only a bit troublesome, requiring constant control of the changes in the runes and a high degree of concentration, but it did not cause any pain.

As the number of runes in the body increases, the flesh beneath the skin flows like water.

Chen Ye felt as if his skin had truly become a shell, his body began to swell, and his flesh and blood were undulating under his skin.

Without muscles, without fascia, and even the internal organs begin to soften, it completely transforms into an indescribable, chaotic mass.

But Chen Ye not only didn't feel pain, he actually felt quite good.

As his internal organs also turned into liquid, Chen Ye felt his body transform into a golden lake, but this lake contained not water, but countless golden runes.

Without breath and heartbeat, everything the body needs is supplied by the runes within.

Then, Chen Ye made a bold decision.

He also refined his own skin.

Chen Ye is now like a water-filled bag. If there is the slightest mistake in the outer layer, all the flesh and blood inside him will spill out, leaving only a skeleton.

Chen Ye's consciousness might also scatter along with his flesh and blood in an instant, turning into countless fragments.

Before reaching the Nascent Soul Realm, Chen Ye's soul was already fragile, and perhaps once it dissipated, it could never be pieced back together.

But Chen Ye still wanted to give it a try; he felt he could give it a shot.

As the golden runes climbed up his skin, the first thing to melt was not his skin, but his facial features and his black hair. Only when his body had completely melted into an indescribable mass did Chen Ye turn all his skin into golden runes.

Crash, crash.

The skin just vanished, and the flesh and blood inside the body, freed from their restraints, scattered like flowing water.

Its body, which had long since transformed into golden runes, cascaded down, covering the surrounding bronze floor.

In the blink of an eye, only a pure white skeleton remained in the underground palace, sitting amidst the golden liquid scattered everywhere.

This incredibly sacred yet incredibly eerie scene could scare an ordinary person half to death.

Chen Ye's consciousness, like those scattered golden liquids, truly turned into countless pieces, seemingly impossible to piece back together.

If it ended there, Chen Ye would become a fool who died from practicing his skills. Although there are many fools like this in the cultivation world, Chen Ye's way of dying is probably unique.

But Chen Ye did not believe he was dead.

His consciousness was indeed divided into countless parts, as if a trace of his remnant soul remained in every drop of golden liquid.

But Chen Ye felt that he was not being torn apart, nor did he feel any pain.

On the contrary, in that instant, Chen Ye heard thousands of voices, each one resonating with his soul, just like his own.

To be able to manifest in countless forms—that's perhaps what it feels like.

These countless thoughts are actually Chen Ye himself, but they appear to be just like countless copies to an outsider.

And this feeling needs to be repeated countless times.

Who is Chen Ye, and who is an outsider? It's hard to tell the truth from the falsehood.

Just as Chen Ye seemed to be losing himself among countless versions of himself, bursts of brilliant light shone from the Ksitigarbha Sutra, as if trying to re-condense the golden water that covered the ground.

But just as the radiance of the Ksitigarbha Sutra was about to truly take flight, the golden water covering the ground quickly flowed back and condensed back into Chen Ye's original form.

Flesh and blood were restored, just like before.

Chen Ye opened his eyes and chanted: "Flesh and blood transform into talismans, bones turn into sand, all phenomena return to their origin and reveal their true home. The mind is unstained by worldly ties, and wisdom can bloom in the heart."

After reciting these four lines, he looked down at the Ksitigarbha Sutra, which still shone brightly, and smiled slightly, saying, "I've finally caught you."

(End of this chapter)