Gou Zai, a corpse sewn into a spirit in a mortuary during the Republic of China era, became a spirit

Luo Bu Si was only a level three skeleton, so her efficiency in transmitting messages was not high. Many complex information could only be easily accessed by Xie An actively reading and inquiring within close range.

Therefore, Xie An doesn't yet know what exactly the "great news" that Radish mentioned is.

"Although Radish's brain is a bit malfunctioning, she's generally reliable. The last piece of good news... she found me a pork rib. After absorbing its energy, I reshaped my bones, and Uncle Fu even called it some kind of Jade Bone Ice Marrow. That's how I started practicing martial arts. This time's good news... I don't think it will be any worse."

Thinking of this, Xie An blew out the fire and then sent a message to the radish, asking it to come and see him.

"Let's find out about Radish's good news first, then we'll make our next plan."

After making the arrangements, Xie An got up and stretched his limbs.

Stand with your feet parallel, shoulder-width apart...

This is the starting stance of the Hunyuan stance.

Although Xie An had been practicing Bajiquan for some time, he had not forgotten to cultivate his basic stance training.

After all, stance training is the foundation of all martial arts. Only with a solid stance can one progress steadily and quickly in martial arts.

Of the three forms of Hunyuan Zhuang, Xie An had only mastered the second form, Concentrating the Mind and Nourishing Qi; he hadn't even scratched the surface of the third.

As Xie An continued to adjust his posture and breathing, his tense and twitching muscles and bones gradually relaxed, and the pain subsided considerably.

Perhaps because he had just experienced a life-or-death battle, Xie An's mindset had changed: he now regarded martial arts training as extremely important and had developed a greater sense of awe towards it.

It is precisely because of reverence that we become more humble.

Practicing Hunyuan Zhuang again with this mindset unexpectedly brought about a kind of enlightenment different from before:

With his mind focused, his breathing harmonized with the surging of his internal energy, and the sensations of energy in his body became increasingly clear and subtle... As time passed, Xie An seemed to enter a state of complete absorption.

Forgetting the physical pain and not being impatient for quick results, I focused all my attention on the essence of the standing meditation itself.

Gradually... Xie An felt a state of unity between form, energy, and spirit. His entire body was as smooth as a sphere, capable of both movement and stillness, and all the muscles in his body could contract and relax freely, as if he could mobilize energy to converge at any angle at any time.

He raised his right hand and, following his instincts, threw a punch.

Bang!

The movements looked ordinary, but when the fist was thrown, it compressed the air and produced a sharp popping sound.

Xie An suddenly opened his eyes, a sharp glint in them.

"This is the third form of Hunyuan Zhuang Gong... Hunyuan Unity?"

He threw another punch, just like he had felt before, and clearly felt the force rising from the ground. His muscles contracted, his tendons snapped, and the explosive power gathered in his fist through the twisting of his tendons. Finally, it shot out like an arrow, causing the air to explode.

Not only did all the strength of the body gather in one place and surge out, but there was also a feeling that the ground was pushing it forward.

He vaguely remembered Zhou Fu saying: "If the tip moves one foot, the root will move ten feet. When you punch, it feels like the ground is pushing you, not your arm is pulling you, then you've truly grasped the basics of Bajiquan."

"Having gone through a life-or-death struggle today, I think I've finally grasped the basics of Bajiquan! I've even mastered the third form of Hunyuan Zhuang."

Afraid of forgetting that feeling, Xie An continued practicing his punches, refining every detail with each repetition.

After a hundred punches, Xie An finally realized he had grasped the essence of the technique and then stopped.

"They say that life-or-death battles are the best way to hone your skills, and that's absolutely true. Even if I stayed home and trained hard for ten years, I wouldn't have felt this way."

Xie An felt this very deeply.

The adrenaline rush from the brink of life and death, the extreme panic and the intense will to survive can greatly unleash a person's potential. And all of this cannot be achieved through grueling training in a sheltered environment.

The sky was gradually brightening.

Xie An took out his pocket watch and saw that it was already five o'clock.

"Why hasn't the shredded radish arrived yet...?"

He looked up and gazed across the Qinghe River. In the distance, the mountains were majestic, stretching endlessly into the clouds, like a colossal beast lying beneath the night sky, inspiring awe.

After waiting a while longer, and still not seeing Luobosi return, Xie An sent another message urging her to hurry up, feeling increasingly anxious.

"Judging by the distance, Shen Qianjun lives in Jinmenwei, which is only seventy or eighty li from here. He can get here by car in no time. We can't rely entirely on Luobosi's great news... Let's go back to the cave first."

Xie An carried the dozen or so rifles tied with rattan on his back, and was about to go back when... a sudden inspiration flashed in his mind.

He slapped his thigh in exasperation.

"I almost forgot about this ability..."

After saying this, Xie An put down his rattan rifle and strode off toward the camp.

Before long, they arrived at the campsite, where only charred ash remained, and the air was filled with a pungent smell of burning.

The forest was damp in March, and with the barbed wire fence tightly in place, the flames and burning materials couldn't spread. Once the campsite was burned down... the fire naturally went out.

Xie An rushed into the scorched earth of the camp, searched for a while and found Shen Molan's body and severed arm. He then hoisted it onto his shoulder and ran away.

When they returned to the riverbank, Xie An finally threw Shen Molan onto the rock.

"I was so focused on fighting Shen Molan that I forgot... I can access the memories of corpses through my sewing skills. I'll check Shen Molan's memories for information about Shen Qianjun. That might help me understand how she communicated with Shen Qianjun about their plan to enter the mountains, and perhaps even what Shen Qianjun's strength is like..."

Without further ado, let's get started.

There were no tools for sewing corpses here, so Xie An used a dagger to whittle a splinter into a needle and thread through some fine vines. He used his left hand to reconnect Shen Molan's severed arm and began to sew with his right hand.

Although Xie An didn't understand... why he had to sew up a corpse to access its memories.

But that's just how it is.

As Xie An continued inserting the needles, a sudden, tingling, numbing electric current shot from Shen Molan's corpse into Xie An's fingertips, causing him to shudder. Immediately afterward, a flood of memories crashed into Xie An's mind.

Having gained experience from reading corpse memories twice before, Xie An was quite adept this time, quickly clearing his mind of distractions and beginning to read Shen Molan's memories.

Shen Molan was born into the wealthy Shen family of the previous dynasty, and lost both her parents at a young age.

It is common knowledge that people who have lost both parents are not simple.

In fact, Shen Molan is no simple person. Although she lost her parents, she was raised by Shen Wanglu and was initially highly regarded by him, treated as his own daughter.

However, ever since Shen Wanglu's daughter, Shen Yuling, was born, Shen Molan has been neglected.

Fortunately, Shen Molan was ambitious and diligently cultivated traditional female virtues. Later, as societal attitudes gradually opened up, she became proficient in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. With the changing times, Shen Molan surprisingly joined the revolutionary army with her distant cousin, Shen Qianjun, to participate in the revolution. This was naturally met with strong opposition from Shen Wanglu's entire family, who feared being implicated…

As it turned out, the previous dynasty was indeed overthrown, although the overthrow of the previous dynasty had nothing to do with Shen Molan... but the wheels of history had just turned to this point.

With the fall of the previous dynasty, the era of warlords began, and Shen Molan became the deputy head of the Special Affairs Section under Marshal Liu.

This was a lucrative and prestigious position, one that brought honor to one's family and held real power. Shen Wanglu began to value Shen Molan and treated her with respect in every way. Relying on his military background, Shen Wanglu's business grew larger and larger, making him the richest man in Yongning County. He also joined forces with numerous celebrities, wealthy merchants, and powerful figures to establish the Xuanji Society, which gained widespread fame.

Shen Molan's life also reached its peak.

As Xie An continued to access memories, he learned the responsibilities of the Special Affairs Section: specifically to help Commander Liu win over wandering Taoist priests and members of the Yin Cult, or to help the Commander cultivate potions to enhance the soldiers' physical bodies, or other shady dealings.

The reason General Liu established the Special Affairs Section was because he was provoked: last year, when he was fighting for territory with another warlord surnamed Sun in the north, victory seemed assured, but the enemy sent a ten-man team to launch a night raid on General Liu's command post. These ten men were three meters tall, incredibly strong, impervious to swords and spears, and even artillery. They wiped out an entire battalion in the command post.

If it weren't for General Liu's good fortune and long life, he would probably have perished there.

Later, Commander Liu learned that the ten-man team was not human... but a kind of man-made corpse monster!

After that, Commander Liu began researching these kinds of things, hoping to use them to arm the troops…

As memories continued to flash, they finally focused on the part about Shen Qianjun.

Shen Qianjun was a distant nephew of Shen Wanglu. He did not grow up in Yongning County, but in the Dong region of southwest China.

He was a corpse refiner who had inherited the Dong-style magic lineage and possessed unparalleled skills in corpse refining, which caught the eye of Commander Liu.

Because Shen Qianjun was cautious by nature, he always conducted corpse refining alone in a secret room, never allowing Shen Molan to participate. Therefore, Xie An had no way of knowing Shen Qianjun's specific abilities in corpse refining from his memories.

Shen Qianjun was the one who orchestrated Chen Daquan's affair.

Xie An also knew about Shen Molan's phone call to Shen Qianjun from Shen Wanglu's mansion.

After reading all the memories, Xie An stopped sewing, his expression becoming much more serious.

"The corpse refiners of the Dong-Dong lineage... that sounds very sinister. The fact that they can gain the favor of Commander Liu shows they have some skills. Shen Molan's Yin-viewing mirror was given to her by Shen Qianjun."

"Dealing with Shen Molan is already so difficult, dealing with this Shen Qianjun... I'm afraid it will be even more difficult. I need to be careful... very careful."

Xie An stood up and threw Shen Molan's corpse, now of no use, into the river. Soon, some bloodthirsty fish emerged from the river and devoured Shen Molan's corpse in no time.

Xie An slung his rattan rifle over his shoulder and was about to leave when he saw Luo Bo Si swimming across the river from the other side.