Sword Sect Outer Sect

Chapter 317 Sweet Dew
The small porcelain bottle, about three inches tall, had a warm, smooth surface and emitted a soft glow in the dim light.

Its design is simple and unadorned, without any patterns or carvings, and is naturally formed.

A withered branch, no more than three inches long, was stuck in the bottle. It was straight and slender, with a slightly grayish color and a dry, cracked, and wrinkled surface. It looked inconspicuous.

Strangely, this object was inserted diagonally into the mouth of the bottle, and the bottom of it fit perfectly with the bottom of the bottle, without any gaps, forming a seamless whole.

It was as if this withered branch was originally a branch that had taken root and sprouted from this white jade bottle, and was naturally grown inside this bottle.

Song Yan probed the bottle with his divine sense, and the moment he made contact, his mind was shaken and his heart was in turmoil.

He never expected that the wood element spiritual energy and vitality flowing in this bottle would be so rich and of such high quality that it far surpassed the wisp of Jianmu essence he had refined back then.

Song Yan immediately took action, trying to remove the withered branch from the bottle, but after pulling for a long time, he made no progress.

He wanted to use his sword intent to cut the withered branch off directly, but he was afraid of damaging the treasure.

Upon closer inspection, it was discovered that there seemed to be some water accumulating at the bottom of the bottle.

Tilt the bottle open, and a few drops of clear liquid, shimmering with a soft golden-green luster, slowly flow from the bottle to the opening.

"hiss……"

What terrifying vitality!

After a moment of stunned silence, instead of pouring it out, Song Yan restored it to its original state and began to ponder.

Judging from the other items in the Qiankun Bag, this item was probably obtained by the demonic cultivator after he killed Ke Huai.

How did the two of them use this item?
Song Yan took a deep breath and recalled everything about Ke Huai.

I first met him at the night market in Lingyuanze, where he had organized a barter fair.

They used spirit stones and pills to exchange for seeds and seedlings of precious spiritual plants from other participating cultivators.

At that time, Song Yan wondered what this person intended to do with these things that weren't of much value.

Judging from the abundant vitality contained in the nectar in this bottle, Ke Huai most likely intends to use it to accelerate the ripening of those precious spiritual herbs and plants, sell them to obtain spiritual resources, or simply use them in medicine and alchemy.

But how the demonic cultivator who had taken over his body would use it was something Song Yan had no idea.

Perhaps Ke Huai's serious, hard-earned approach is too troublesome for demonic cultivators, and he probably doesn't understand the knowledge and principles of spiritual plants.

Speaking of spiritual plants, Song Yan thought of someone.

Liang Feng.

So far, having established his Dao foundation, among the cultivators he has encountered in this cultivation world, it seems that only Liang Feng, who is in the Qi Refining stage, has the deepest attainment in the Dao of spiritual plants.

After much deliberation, Song Yan decided to first take some nectar from the bottle and let Liang Feng test its ripening effect.

In fact, there are quite a few methods to accelerate growth in the cultivation world. The simplest and most basic method is spiritual magic such as the Lesser Cloud and Rain Technique.

However, the effect of artificial ripening is usually quite limited.

Song Yan had little interest or desire to learn about spiritual plants; he already had enough to study in swordsmanship alone.

Perhaps for most Foundation Establishment and Qi Refining cultivators in the Chu Kingdom, having an extra skill means having an extra way to earn spirit stones, which can help them on their path to immortality.

But Song Yan didn't think that way. If he wanted to achieve the Golden Core by following the path of sword cultivation, what he needed to do now was not to add, but to subtract.

Only by streamlining the parts of your life that require your attention and immersing yourself completely in the art of swordsmanship can you reach the pinnacle of mastery.

The characteristics of this jade bottle are there for all to see; how to use it is a matter for each person to make different choices based on their own path.

If this were when Song Yan first entered the sect, he might have done the same as Ke Huai, using this as a foundation to accelerate his alchemy skills.

However, Song Yan now had a vague feeling that using it only as a ripening agent for spiritual medicine or to replenish the life force of those demons seemed like a waste of resources.

After all, the life force and spiritual power contained in this nectar are enormous.

He had some ideas, but he didn't know if they would work.

Let's try again when we get back to the sect.

After tidying up the normal items, Song Yan calmed himself down and began to sort through the "demonic" items.

Aside from the miscellaneous items, there were a few magical artifacts, a bottle of pills without any spiritual energy markings, a few talismans, and some gray jade slips.

As expected, the magical artifacts were all sinister and eerie, making people's hearts tremble.

Song Yanlian took them out carefully, first putting several layers of sword energy on his hands.

Caution is the boat.

Over the years, the Demon Ruins have been in turmoil, and through contact with many demonic cultivators, this generation of cultivators has truly come to understand the meaning of the word "insidious and poisonous."

He had heard of many fellow cultivators who, despite having killed demonic cultivators, fell victim to their attacks while dealing with the spoils of war.

In mild cases, the mark will remain, affecting normal cultivation and the flow of spiritual energy for a long time.

In severe cases, the person may be possessed by a curse, and within a few months, their vitality will decline and they will die.

Looking back, I realize that I was completely unguarded in the past, and brazenly picked up and touched those demonic items. Ignorance is bliss.

He glanced at the ritual implements briefly, and tossed aside any that didn't catch his eye.

Then he picked up a bottle of elixir.

Upon opening the bottle, I saw that the pills were the size of longans, and were red and white.

It smelled extremely bloody, but there was also a faint, strange fragrance mixed in.

Song Yan held the bottle in his left hand, but his gaze fell on the pile of jade slips. With a wave of his right hand, he summoned them all in front of him.

He probed into each of them with his divine sense and soon found the name of the pill in one of the jade slips.

"Spirit Sacrifice Blood Pill..."

Although it was the first time Song Yan had heard the name, it felt strangely familiar.

I only thought about it for a moment before I remembered.

Back in Shiliang Town, when I first personally killed a demonic cultivator, I found some kind of pill in their storage bag.

It is called the Spirit Transformation Blood Pill.

The two differ by only one character.

No wonder it felt so familiar.

After careful recollection, Song Yan even remembered the effects of the elixir and the materials needed to refine it.

It can enable cultivators without spiritual roots to grow a set of meridians within their bodies, allowing them to cultivate to the third level of Qi Refining.

The materials needed for refining are the essence and blood of infants, young people, and the elderly.

The Spirit Blood Pill before us is made from even more special materials.

It requires the essence and blood of an infant with spiritual roots, a young person with Qi Refining cultivation, or an elderly cultivator.

Its effects are exactly the same as those of the Spirit Transformation Blood Pill, and even more bizarre.

It can enable cultivators without spiritual roots to cultivate to the ninth level of Qi Refining, and even to build a foundation for their Dao.

Song Yan was startled and horrified.

Even someone like him, who considered himself to lack a broad perspective on the cultivation world, could sense what such a pill meant.

Put aside your emotions for now and continue to observe all the effects of this pill.

Sure enough, there's no such thing as a free lunch.

Not only will their strength be far inferior to that of cultivators at the same level, but they will also be easily tainted by the bloodthirsty aura, which will affect their minds to varying degrees.

Of course, this also makes it easier to go astray and become possessed.

However, in Song Yan's view, this small impact is completely negligible to those extreme demonic cultivators.

Moreover, this pill is not only suitable for cultivators without spiritual roots.

This pill can rapidly improve the strength and cultivation level of cultivators before the Foundation Establishment stage.

After taking the pill, due to the mutual conflict between the essence and blood in the body, the three barriers of essence, qi and spirit become difficult to overcome, and the probability of a cultivator establishing their foundation will drop sharply.

Song Yan naturally looked down on this kind of thing and didn't even think about how to make use of it.

What he's thinking about now is, if there are Spirit Transformation Blood Pills and Spirit Sacrifice Blood Pills, are there any other blood pills in the demonic path?

It can rapidly advance a person to the late Foundation Establishment stage, or even the Golden Core stage...

And there's one more thing.

If this elixir could enable someone to cultivate to the late stage of Qi Refining, or even Foundation Establishment, wouldn't those mortals without spiritual roots who cultivate to the fourth or fifth level of Qi Refining be able to try switching to the path of sword cultivation and cultivating a sword within their cultivation center?
"Um……"

After pondering for a moment, Song Yan dismissed the thought.

I have no reason to try it myself, and besides, there are far too many side effects from taking this pill. Even if it really worked, it wouldn't make much sense.

Just then, Song Yan suddenly sensed something.

He then put everything away and released the restriction.

Sheng Nian walked over slowly, sat down next to him, and sighed, "Ah Yun, she's still like a child."

Listening to Gou Sheng's condescending comment, Song Yan raised an eyebrow, his expression strange: "Are you about to die of old age?"

He stretched out his hand: "Remember to leave the Qiankun Bag to me before you die."

Sheng Nian glared at him and said, "Tsk, you can't expect anything good to come out of a dog's mouth."

Song Yan ignored him and waved Ke Huai's Qiankun bag in front of him: "You killed him, so he's yours."

The valuable items inside had already been moved, so he could help me deal with all this messy, filthy stuff.

Sheng Nian glanced at it, waved his hand, and said irritably, "Forget it, you can keep it yourself."

"The restrictions on this Qiankun bag have been removed, and the opening has been made. What are you pretending to be, you bastard? You think I'm some trash again?"

"..."

"I'm here to reclaim my inner demons." Song Yan reluctantly put away his Qiankun bag and casually asked, "How did you end up here again? Did you come with A-Yun when she went down the mountain to travel?"

Sheng Nian shook his head: "I gave A Yun three Shadow Sect Avatar Talismans before, and all three talismans were triggered a few days ago."

"I was worried about her safety, so I rushed over to check on her."

Isn't that what came along?

"It's such a good thing to be with your loved ones."

Song Yan pursed his lips: "Still hiding your true colors, not seen for years, I wonder who you're guarding against."

"..."

When this topic came up, Sheng Nian seemed to have nothing to say. After holding back for a long time, he finally spoke.

“I’m different from you, Young Master Song.”

"After all, I am a demonic cultivator. You know who I deal with every day. Their methods are all extremely ruthless and vicious, so we have to be careful."

"There are quite a few such people in the righteous and prestigious sects," Song Yan reminded her.

Sheng Nian chuckled and nodded.

"but……"

"I really don't want to go on like this anymore."

He suddenly looked at Song Yan, his gaze intense: "So, Yan, I need you to do me a small favor."

"Help? Help you with what?"

"Kill someone."

"Kill who?"

"My master is Xinshan Sanren."

"..."

Song Yan frowned: "You call killing a pseudo-Core Formation cultivator a small favor?"

Previously, at Longtan Mountain, he had directly faced a cultivator at the Pseudo-Core Formation Realm.

Although he wasn't as powerful as a true Golden Core cultivator, killing him would still be a piece of cake.

"No rush, it's not time yet, it might be a long time from now."

"it is good."

Song Yan nodded: "Just send me a message when the time comes."

Sheng Nian asked with great interest, "Aren't you going to ask me why I killed him?"

"You fiend, isn't it perfectly normal for you to be so greedy, treacherous, and betray your master and ancestors?"

"Tsk."

Sheng Nian glanced at him sideways and lost interest in chatting.

For Song Yan, if one day he really had the chance to kill Xin Shan Sanren, that would be wonderful.

What reason is there to ask? He was naturally eager to get the answer.

"Is it just the two of us?"

"hey-hey."

Sheng Nian grinned and said, "And there's A Yuan too."

Song Yan was taken aback: "A Yuan?"

Before his prime, he had told him that this corpse puppet, A Yuan, was a guard that his master, Xin Shan Sanren, had arranged for him to be by his side.

How can even a corpse puppet be turned against its master without anyone noticing?
"Did you know? Ah Yuan actually knows you."

"Ok?"

Song Yan vaguely sensed something connecting the dots.

"He is Lu Yuan, the abbot of Nanshan Temple."

Sheng Nian said, "He was originally transformed into this inhuman and ghostly form by Xin Shan."

"Moreover, I had Sister Ping investigate, and it turns out that the massacre of those people at Nanshan Temple was actually orchestrated by Xin Shan in secret."

“A Yuan’s physique is extremely special. Although he is already dead, he still retains his consciousness after being refined into a corpse puppet.”

"Xin Shan probably only ordered the massacre of the entire Nanshan Temple to prevent his Taoist disciples from affecting his mind."

"..."

It turned out to be the case.

Song Yan suddenly realized, and then many clues from the past came together.

With their current strength, the three of them are simply no match for a Pseudo-Core Formation cultivator.

Saying anything is meaningless; the real key is to quickly improve your strength and level of understanding.

The two stopped chatting and left.

Back at the Tianzun Temple, a casual glance revealed that You Ruixuan was no longer there.

Xiao Ju secretly informed him that under Xie Chan's questioning, the prince was so ashamed that he committed suicide on the spot.

Regardless of the ins and outs of this matter, how moving and tearful it may be, or what hardships it may hold that warrant tears, it is a matter between them and has nothing to do with Song Yan.

Since it seems that there are other Foundation Establishment stage demonic cultivators involved in this matter, Zheng Guangzong has already tried to report it to the sect.

After thinking for a moment, Song Yan decided to report the matter upon returning to his clan.

After all, it also involves the sect's enshrined members and their own disciples.

As for how to deal with Zongzhong, that's not something I need to worry about.

"I'll take your Uncle Xu back with me now."

Song Yan instructed Xiao Ju, "From now on, no one can guarantee your safety. Be extra careful in any situation."

Xiao Ju nodded seriously.

"Yes, Master."

In fact, it's not that the illusory demon couldn't stay by her side, but it would be meaningless.

Since Xiao Ju already knows, she must no longer feel any sense of crisis, which is extremely detrimental to her sword cultivation.

After exchanging a few more words with Sheng Yun, he took the Phantom Demon and vanished into the clouds.

Xie Chan looked in the direction Song Yan had left, remaining silent.

(End of this chapter)