My daily cultivation progress is calculated.

Chapter 140, The Devouring Heaven Demon Art!

Although Shen Rong was extremely angry, he still suppressed his anger and spared Chen Yu's life.

Seeing this, Shen Yan knew perfectly well that he had been tricked.

His encounter with Chen Yu on the street was deliberately arranged.

All the information Chen Yu revealed was true; he was simply concealing the fact that he had been captured by Zeng Yue and his group.

One lie can be hidden among ten truths, and that's the hardest thing to spot.

Shen Yan sighed, thinking to himself, "These people are cunning and scheming; we've really messed up this time."

He approached Chen Yu and said calmly, "Did you deliberately lead us here?"

"That's right. It's not convenient to make a move in Jiangnan Prefecture, so they ordered me to leak the information to you."

Chen Yu was pale and looked slightly guilty.

Shen Yan continued, "Why did you do this? Do they have some leverage over you?"

He was puzzled. Chen Yu was originally a eunuch from the Directorate of Ceremonial, so how could he have colluded with the powerful families of Jiangnan in just a few days?

There must be something hidden behind this.

At this point, Chen Yu stopped talking and simply lowered his head.

Shen Yan sighed. He had chosen his own path, so he couldn't blame anyone else.

"I have failed Brother Shen. There is no need to ask any further. I only wish for a swift death."

After a long silence, Chen Yu finally spoke.

Shen Rong was furious.

"You really think I wouldn't dare kill you?"

As he spoke, he raised his hand high, ready to slap Chen Yu to death.

At this moment, Shen Ci spoke up to dissuade him.

"Stop! Let His Majesty decide his fate!"

Chen Yu is still an imperial envoy at the moment. If Shen Rong kills him, who knows what kind of trouble he will encounter.

Shen Ci didn't know if these several thousand bandits were their only support.

Just then, Shen Yan saw shouts of battle coming from outside the city.

He jumped onto the partially collapsed city wall and looked out.

They discovered that the bandits who had scattered and fled had actually returned.

A moment later, the familiar flag appeared before him.

It turned out to be the Vermilion Bird Army; they've already arrived.

Shen Yan had already seen Meng Lie riding up on horseback.

They quickly arrived in front of the group, and Shen Ci was overjoyed upon seeing them.

He's been really frustrated these past few days.

Meng Lie was also somewhat shocked by what he saw.

The fight between the martial artists actually caused the city walls to collapse.

The ground was littered with the corpses of bandits and civilians.

"We're too late!"

His tone was somewhat dejected; Shen Ci had almost died here.

I never expected Shen Yan to be so strong. Without him, my life would have been in grave danger.

Shen Yan smiled and said, "The journey that should have taken half a month has only taken ten days. How can you say it's late?"

Although Meng Lie didn't say it, Shen Yan and the others knew that the Vermilion Bird Army had also endured a difficult journey.

Shen Ci said, "Clean up the remaining bandits in the city."

Meng Lie solemnly replied, "Yes, young master!"

With the protection of the Vermilion Bird Army, Shen Yan could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

He approached the middle-ranking martial artist he had just killed.

These people gave him a very strange feeling; they all looked old, appearing to be in their forties or fifties.

Judging from their teeth and overall bone age, they somehow appear to be very young.

Even Zhang Yuanhu was the same; Shen Yan only found out after inquiring with the soldiers in the Thousand Households Office.

Zhang Yuanhu became famous in the last three to five years; I had never heard of him before.

All that is known is that he is ruthless and enjoys killing for pleasure.

Logically speaking, becoming a martial arts master is not something that can be achieved overnight. Every master who becomes famous leaves behind many stories before they achieve fame.

When Zhang Yuanhu appeared, he was already a fourth-rank martial artist, and a few years later he actually broke through to the second rank.

It was utterly unbelievable and overturned the understanding of martial arts practitioners.

Therefore, many people in the martial arts world secretly speculated whether the two brothers had encountered some extraordinary adventure.

Many self-proclaimed martial arts masters went to Black Wind Ridge.

However, no news from them has been released in the end.

He must have been killed by the Zhang brothers, as their power grew stronger.

As the missing masters' skill levels rose higher and higher, no one dared to go to Black Wind Ridge to seek death.

Shen Yan thought to himself, "Could Zhang Yuanhu have also obtained some kind of magical treasure?"

He began searching through these people, and as expected, he found a martial arts manual on Zhang Yuanhu's person.

"The Devouring Heaven Demon Art?!"

The manual was written on a leather scroll, which felt somewhat cold to the touch.

Shen Yan put the cultivation manual into his pocket, without having time to examine it closely.

There are still remnants of bandits in the city, so now is not a good time for research.

He wondered to himself, "Could this be the reason why these people are breaking through their cultivation levels so quickly?"

The rapid advancement of demonic cultivation techniques may explain why the previously unknown Zhang Yuanhu was able to become a second-rank martial artist.

Thinking of this, Shen Yan couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement.

for a long time.

Meng Lie has finally returned, and the bandits in the city have been cleared out.

Seeing the fires that could be seen everywhere in Jiande County, Shen Yan couldn't help but sigh.

Having just experienced a major disaster, and now facing war, there are already signs of a chaotic world ahead.

Perhaps soon, someone here will raise their voice and call for action.

To utter the famous line, "Are kings and nobles born with a special destiny?"

Meng Lie led his troops to rest and recuperate outside the city, preparing for their next move.

Shen Ci borrowed the Vermilion Bird Army to maintain order in Jiande County.

After the chaos subsides, there will be no shortage of opportunists.

Zhang Qi and his men had long since disappeared without a trace, leaving only a few constables in the county government office.

With things settled down in the county town, Shen Yan finally had some free time.

They are staying at the county government office tonight.

Shen Yan arrived at his residence and took out the "Devouring Heaven Demon Art" that Zhang Yuanhu had taken from him.

Previously, I only glanced at the name and didn't study it in detail.

Now that I'm holding it in my hand, I realize something's not right about it.

"This leather seems to be human skin?! And it's not the skin and flesh of an ordinary martial artist. This person must have been a third-rank external martial artist in life."

Those who practice external martial arts at the top three ranks are much rarer than those who practice internal martial arts, since once they enter old age and their qi and blood decline, there is no longer any possibility of breakthrough.

To cultivate to the top three ranks in just a few decades is truly the mark of a prodigy.

"Heaven and earth have no Way, therefore I am the Way. The breath of all spirits returns to my orifices. I inhale the wind and drink the dew without seeking the heavens, and swallow the clouds and spit out the mist, thus forming my own abyss—"

""

.

Shen Yan frowned. The first few hundred words were normal, but his tone was a bit too loud.

It refers to a method of spiritual practice involving breathing exercises and consuming the elements, which involves plundering all things in heaven and earth and transforming them for one's own use.

But the further it went, the more bizarre it became, turning into a wicked secret method of refining the power of others to enhance one's own abilities.

Moreover, this does not seem to be a cultivation technique, but rather a secret method.

Although this method is quick, it has major flaws.

Practicing the Devouring Heaven Demon Art will inevitably shorten one's lifespan, and refining the power of others can easily cause internal energy conflicts.

Although his advancement was rapid, he had to constantly spare energy to suppress the disruptive alien true energy.

"No wonder those people, despite possessing a high level of cultivation, are unable to unleash the full potential they deserve."

However, this approach is somewhat of a double-edged sword for Shen Yan.

This secret method seems to be incomplete, with the latter half being completed by later generations.

This domineering secret technique has been reduced to a crooked and evil method, which makes Shen Yan feel somewhat regretful.