Where's my golden core? Did you think I removed a kidney stone?

Chapter 78 Xuanjing in White Robes? Lung Metal VS Lung Metal! (Seeking First Subscription!)

It's still raining.

At the end of an old alley in the west of the city, an abandoned bungalow is hidden behind the shadows of trees. The roof is broken in several places, and rainwater leaks down the gaps in the tiles, splashing out circles of murky water on the ground.

A dim yellow lamp was lit inside the room.

The three members of the Xuanjing Society temporarily settled here, their expressions gloomy.

"unlucky."

One of them leaned against the wall, his shoulders hunched, half of his body soaked in blood, his face deathly pale, his breathing alternating between light and heavy. The other two sat cross-legged in front of him, chanting an obscure incantation, struggling to draw upon the sparse spiritual energy between heaven and earth.

In the damp and scattered rainy night, the spiritual energy barely gathered into a thin gray-white thread, which slowly seeped into the injured man's shoulder, making a hissing sound, which eased his expression somewhat.

"Ouch, hiss—" The injured man gritted his teeth, his eyes filled with venom. "I'll make that brat pay!"

The person next to him still looked somewhat horrified: "Awakening both the external appearance and the internal vision at the same time, such top-tier consumables are extremely rare. As long as the news is sent back to the guild, the white-robed lord will definitely take action personally."

The other man licked his lips, his eyes flashing with greed and ruthlessness: "When we strip him of his appearance and turn his inner self into a potion, we might all benefit from it."

The injured man snorted coldly, looked down at his collapsed shoulder, where flesh was torn and the white bones were vaguely visible, and couldn't help but gasp.

That kid's external appearance technique was anything but simple. Although he only had one thumb to carry the external appearance, the force he unleashed penetrated deep into his bones, like hundreds of steel needles exploding at the same time. If he hadn't retreated quickly, half of his body would probably have been crippled.

"To put it bluntly, he's just a college student. In this small Jiangcheng, there's nothing we can't afford to offend." His voice was hoarse. "When the white-robed lord arrives, I want to see him put on the stage with my own eyes."

The people inside laughed, their laughter chilling, mingling with the sound of rain outside the window, making the dilapidated bungalow even more damp and cold.

Just then, the laughter of the three of them stopped simultaneously.

"Who?"

The person near the door suddenly turned around.

Outside the rain, a figure slowly walked in, wearing a black raincoat and with the edge of an umbrella hanging low.

The person looked very young, with no spiritual energy emanating from him. Standing at the door, he even looked like an ordinary person who had accidentally wandered into this place. However, the three of them felt a sudden tightness in their hearts!

wrong!

This is definitely not an ordinary person! Although their senses could not detect the extraordinary aura emanating from this mysterious person who suddenly barged into the house, their intuition told them that this person was extremely dangerous!

They immediately tensed up and became alert.

Su Ye closed his umbrella and stood at the door. Rain dripped down the tip of the umbrella, and the light from inside the house fell on his face. His eyes were like deep, ancient wells, but his killing intent was as cold as iron.

The leader slowly stood up, his eyes wary, a hint of murderous intent flickering within them: "Who are you?"

Su Ye did not answer. His gaze swept over the three of them, and he suddenly realized: the black robes, the unusual spiritual energy, and the extraordinary aura pieced together from external objects.

Xuanjing will meet you.

If it's the Xuanjing Society, then things make sense. This organization is extremely vicious, and their attack on Su Chen now is probably because they've set their sights on Su Chen's appearance.

The thought of the Xuanjing Society's purpose in searching for the Outer Minister immediately ignited a murderous intent in Su Ye's eyes.

These people have not truly rejuvenated their outward appearance; their internal spiritual energy is coarse and scattered. They merely use spiritual energy to improve their bodies and then forcibly learn some techniques by observing outward appearances.

The three members of the Xuanjing Society exchanged glances. A ruthless glint flashed in the leader's eyes, and his voice boomed through the darkness: "Playing tricks."

As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly drew the knife from his companion beside him.

Clang!

The long sword was drawn, its blade flashing a cold light under the dim lamplight, heading straight for Su Ye's throat.

Su Ye finally moved, raising his hand and reaching forward. The speed wasn't particularly fast, but when the long sword slashed half a foot in front of him, it suddenly seemed to hit an invisible wall. Su Ye slightly clenched his fingers and flicked them.

boom!

The force exploded, and the blade trembled violently. The leader's pupils contracted sharply, and he felt a numbness in his hand. The next moment, the long sword broke in two in his hand.

Clang!

The broken blade flew and embedded itself in the wall.

"What?"

He had barely uttered two words when Su Ye took a step forward, unleashing a tremendous aura, his heart pounding, and his blood boiling.

thump.

dong dong.

In that instant, the air in the room seemed to be compressed by an invisible force, and even the sound of rain seemed to fade away. The leader felt as if the young man in front of him had suddenly turned into a torrent of water, rushing towards him in a magnificent and overwhelming manner.

Su Ye threw a punch, the force of the "flower-plucking" technique penetrating his body.

Snapped!

The man's chest didn't explode dramatically; instead, his entire body stiffened abruptly, his robes billowing at the back. His internal organs were shattered by the force, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. He staggered a step, the ferocity in his eyes still lingering, before his body went limp.

The room fell silent for a moment.

The injured man leaned against the wall, his pupils shrinking to pinpoints. Another member of the Xuanjing Society felt a chill run through him, his expression filled with terror. Who was this person? He didn't remember ever offending such a being!

"Who are you?!" His voice had changed.

That was definitely a technique, and a very high-level one at that. Once fully mastered, its power was terrifyingly penetrating.

But the person in front of them did not have any external characteristics. Most of the people with external characteristics that they had seen could not control themselves. Their bodies would twitch, their aura would leak out, and there were even obvious traces before and after the spell was activated.

There is no such person.

It was as if he had practiced an external art for a long time and had completely mastered it, like a grandmaster in ancient martial arts.

Cold rain pounded on the roof, the broken tiles leaked, and the smell of blood inside grew stronger. Su Ye stood there, his black raincoat still dripping wet. Although he didn't release any particularly exaggerated aura, it made it difficult for the other two to even breathe.

"Attack together!" the injured man suddenly roared.

The man next to him gritted his teeth and lunged forward. He knew he couldn't escape, and at this moment he could only fight desperately. The short blade in his hand slid out from his sleeve, and with a burst of spiritual energy under his feet, he sped up close to the ground, faster than the man who had used the knife.

Su Ye simply raised a finger, his fingertip pointing out silently.

puff!

A bloody hole suddenly exploded in the man's shoulder, and the force drilled into his body, tearing along his shoulder blade, collarbone, and ribs, like a bolt of lightning rolling through the depths of his flesh.

"Ah!" he screamed, his arm went limp, his body crashed into the table, and he fell to the ground convulsing.

The last injured member of the Xuanjing Society was utterly terrified.

He tried to stand up by leaning against the wall, but found his legs were too weak. The spiritual energy they had drawn into him earlier was now dead inside his body, and he dared not move at all.

"Don't kill me." His voice trembled. "Please, don't kill me. I don't know what I did to offend you."

Suddenly, his heart skipped a beat.

He finally saw Su Ye's face up close, and the outlines of the two faces overlapped in his mind—the young man from the Evolutionary Realm whom he had just fought in the factory had a similar look between his eyebrows and the person in front of him.

This moment felt like a bucket of cold water had been poured over him.

The young man who was severely injured by them in the factory and thus evolved into an inner realm has a blood relationship with this terrifying being in front of us. No wonder that young man dared to target the Xuanjing Society members; he had such confidence!

Click.

Su Ye stomped down, breaking both of his legs. The man screamed and fell to the ground, cold sweat instantly pouring out.

Su Ye looked down at him and said, "Tell me about the Xuanjing Society."

The man's face contorted in pain, then he suddenly laughed: "If I tell you, you'll let me go?"

As he spoke, he suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood. Before the blood could even get close to Su Ye's face, it was dispersed by an invisible force and splashed onto the wall beside him.

Su Ye's eyes didn't change much, but the next moment, his mental energy crashed down.

This was the first time Su Ye had used his mental power to launch an attack.

boom!

The Xuanjing Society member felt as if a giant hammer had struck his mind. His vision went white instantly, and all his thoughts were shattered. Fear, pain, resentment, and the will to survive all broke into a chaotic mess of light.

His body stiffened, his eyes quickly became unfocused, as if he had lost all ability to think and was just an empty shell.

Su Ye leaned forward slightly: "Where is the base?"

The man's lips trembled, his voice broken: "South of the city—Old Mountain Forest—Cave—Third Beacon—"

How many people are there?

"Black robes — Twenty-seven — One person in white robes —"

"What is a white robe?"

A look of pain suddenly appeared on the man's face, as if some thought was trying to struggle, but was quickly suppressed by his mental power: "White-robed sir, inner realm, orthodox—"

Su Ye didn't ask any further questions, but instead stared into his eyes for a moment. After being directly impacted by mental energy, this person's spirit had been shattered, and his consciousness was like a broken fog, but his spiritual core was not completely destroyed.

As long as the spiritual core exists, the spiritual power is flexible and has the ability to heal itself. His attack just now only shattered the outer layer of thought, not the spiritual core. Otherwise, the person in front of him would probably only be a breathing empty shell.

Su Ye withdrew his mental energy.

enough.

He slowly got up. The man on the ground had unfocused eyes and was unconsciously muttering a few fragmented words. Su Ye reached out and grabbed his collar, dragging him out of the bungalow. Rain immediately poured over the two of them.

Only a broken lamp flickered in the bungalow, and the stench of blood was gradually suppressed into the darkness by the rainy night.

After an unknown amount of time, the Xuanjing Society member awoke from his daze.

What exactly just happened? He felt as if his brain had been suddenly smashed apart by an invisible hammer, leaving it blank. Now, it felt like there were thousands of needles sticking out of his head, and every breath he took made him almost faint from the pain.

He opened his eyes.

Instead of the abandoned bungalow, they found themselves in a narrow mountain cave passage. The stone walls were damp, the water underfoot was icy cold, and the air smelled of rotting wood and cigarette ash.

He was held in Su Ye's hand like a dead dog.

In the pitch-black passage ahead, a faint flicker of firelight could be seen.

He suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.

This is the temporary stronghold of the Xuanjing Society. This cave is hidden deep in the mountains and forests, and the entrance is concealed. Even if an ordinary person passes by, they would not be able to find it. How did he find this place? A mix of emotions, including eeriness, fear, and absurdity, instantly surged into my mind.

Could it be me who said it?

He tried hard to recall, but all he remembered was a sharp pain; his mind was blank.

Su Ye ignored him and walked along the narrow passage. The sound of rain gradually faded away, and the firelight became clearer.

The passage suddenly opens up into a wide-open space.

A natural cave came into view, with clusters of torches stuck in the stone walls. The flames burned with a ghostly green edge, and the light falling on the damp stone walls looked like distorted human faces. In the center of the cave were several stone tables, some covered with black cloth, others with bottles and jars on them. A faint fishy smell emanated from inside, making one's stomach tighten.

Dozens of men in black robes were busy with their own tasks.

The moment Su Ye walked in, all eyes fell on him.

The initial confusion quickly turned into a chilling and dangerous atmosphere.

outsider?

boom.

Su Ye threw the Xuanjing Society member in his hand to the ground. The man rolled a few times, crashed into a rock, and let out a painful groan.

The cave was quiet for a moment.

Soon, someone spoke up in a cold voice: "Who dares to trespass on the Xuanjing Gathering?"

"There are actually people who feel they've lived too long."

One by one, the men in black robes stood up, their extraordinary auras shining like lights suddenly illuminated in the darkness. The flickering firelight reflected on their faces, gradually fueling their killing intent.

Su Ye patted the raindrops off his hands, glanced at the cave, and suddenly smiled.

He looked at those people, his voice not loud, but it drowned out the noise in the entire cave: "As expected, they are all just trash who have risen to the extraordinary level through underhanded means."

In an instant, the eyes of all the men in black robes changed, filled with murderous intent, and their angry voices rang out uncontrollably: "Who exactly are you?"

Su Ye pondered for a moment, then said nonchalantly, "There's no need to ask about their identity or name. The Xuanjing Society has done countless evil deeds and harmed countless innocent people. I should also wipe out this cancer for Jiangcheng."

As soon as he finished speaking, the last remaining noise in the cave fell silent.

Dozens of men in black robes looked at Su Ye at the same time, and the atmosphere in the entire cave became gloomy. In Su Ye's perception, the aura of these people was very cold. The coldness was not watery, nor did it have the clean and sharpness of the nascent ice element on He Qingqing. Instead, it was a strange and chilling cold.

Each person was covered in a chaotic aura of blood, like old wounds, but in Su Ye's eyes, they were one blood debt after another.

Most of these people had been living on the fringes of society before. Before the fog, they hid in the city's gutter, living by ruthlessness and evil. After the fog, Xuanjing would take them in, giving them an even more vicious, cruel, and bloody path, and granting them power that did not belong to them.

Su Ye foresaw that today would inevitably be a bloodbath, but he didn't feel much psychological pressure. As a doctor, he had seen too many necrotic tissues. Xuanjing Society was like a malignant tumor, hidden deep in Jiangcheng, and now all Su Ye had to do was remove it.

"You're asking for it!"

One of the men in black robes could no longer contain his murderous intent and lunged forward.

Whoosh!

A ring of debris exploded beneath his feet, his black robe billowed in the strong wind, his joints cracked and popped, his shoulder blades snapped back, his chest expanded suddenly, and a terrifying surge of air violently rushed towards Su Ye.

He was incredibly fast; almost before the words had even faded, he was already in front of Su Ye, his right hand forming a claw, aimed straight at Su Ye's throat.

Without even looking, Su Ye struck the man in the chest with his palm.

The man's charge came to an abrupt halt.

Click!

The sound of a collapsing sternum and breaking ribs echoed clearly in the cave. The black-robed man's back arched violently, as if he were nailed to the ground by an invisible iron stake. The stone beneath his feet cracked like a spiderweb, with pebbles leaping and falling along the fissures. His eyes widened in horror and excruciating pain.

The next moment, his body flew backward and crashed heavily against the stone wall, leaving a trail of blood as he slid down, and then he was completely still.

The man's flesh was torn apart, his bones were broken, and blood was flowing. His life force was not completely cut off, and a creaking sound came from his throat.

Everyone's expression changed drastically.

Since its inception, the Xuanjing Society has been a shadowy force in Jiangcheng. They capture those with outward appearances, strip them bare, observe them, and bestow upon them techniques. They come and go silently in the darkness of the city. Anyone who knows even a little about them is terrified of them. But tonight, someone actually broke into their stronghold.

"Kill him," someone gritted their teeth, their voice vicious.

Su Ye took out a white bone blade from his pocket. The blade was short and very thin. He held it between two fingers of his right hand, close to the edge of his fist. It was bone material left behind after the cat demon evolved. He had slowly ground it into a small blade and kept it away for a long time without touching it.

Now, it lies hidden within the fist, unleashing a chilling killing intent.

Su Ye made a move.

He only paused lightly, but the entire cave seemed to be struck by a heavy hammer. Dust fell from the stone walls, and the eerie green flames all recoiled. After two marrow cleansings, his physical body had undergone earth-shattering changes. In fact, Su Ye had never seriously tested the extent of his body's power, because it was inconvenient to do so anywhere, and any loud noise would attract unnecessary trouble.

At this moment, inside the Xuanjing Society's stronghold, Su Ye suddenly understood. The power within him, which had been compressed to its limit, was now fully unleashed.

Dozens of men in black robes felt a chill run down their spines.

Where did this monster come from?

"Surround him!" someone shouted.

The next moment, people rushed up from all directions at the same time. On the left, a short and thin man rushed along the ground, his leg muscles were unusually developed, and the fascia of his calves bulged into two hard lines. He was so fast that it was as if he was gliding along the ground. However, Su Ye was faster. He turned to the side and suddenly slashed with his bone blade.

puff!

The man remained in a forward-leaning posture, rushed out three steps, and then clutched his neck and knelt on the ground.

The two men on the right swung their swords simultaneously, one slashing at Su Ye's shoulder and neck, and the other at his waist and abdomen. Su Ye twisted his wrist, and the bone blade struck the blade, making a short, crisp sound. The metal energy in his lungs pressed into his knuckles along with his breath, and a faint golden light suddenly appeared on the edge of the white bone blade.

click!

The blade snapped in two, and Su Ye closed in, striking the former in the chest with his elbow. The bone blade then pierced the latter's ribs with the force of the blow, the movement clean and swift, leaving drops of blood on the stone ground.

He didn't stop.

More and more men in black robes rushed in, stirring up the foul air in the cave. Some had bluish skin with hard, scale-like horns growing on their shoulders and backs; some had swollen arms with bulging veins that looked like black lines wrapped under their skin; and some exhaled grayish-white spiritual energy, their short blades vibrating slightly. All these techniques were crude and chaotic.

Su Ye walked among them, and with each step he took, fine cracks appeared in the stone ground; with each gesture he made, someone fell down.

He saw everything too clearly. With his Heavenly Eye-level spiritual power spreading out, he could perceive every move of everyone around him with perfect clarity. He could accurately grasp every loophole and kill them with a single blow.

Like a god of death.

The impact of the blood did not cause Su Ye any physical discomfort. As a medical student, seeing blood was just a basic skill.

At first, the man in black robes was roaring, but fear quickly overshadowed his anger. When did Xuanjing Society offend such a terrifying being?

"Back off! Get out of the way!"

The voice, now in a different tone, rang out, but it was too late.

Su Ye had already reached the man. Just as his pupils contracted and he was about to swing his knife, he was punched in the chest. This punch relied on the force of the "flower-plucking" technique. The force exploded through the chest wall and into the man's body. The man's back bulged up suddenly, his black robe was torn in a piece, his internal organs were shattered, and he fell straight down, making the ground shake.

"My Xuanjing Society has no grudge against you. Let's pretend we didn't see what happened today. The Xuanjing Society also has extraordinary individuals of your level. Making things worse won't benefit anyone. Perhaps we are not enemies, but friends?"

A middle-aged man tore off his face mask, his expression filled with fear, and his voice trembled slightly.

They were scared.

Su Ye scoffed and was about to respond when a glint flashed in his eyes.

"And there are still scum hiding in the shadows!"

A cold light suddenly shone from the depths of the cave.

The cold light came silently, skimming past the firelight, aiming straight for Su Ye's brow. Su Ye nimbly flipped in mid-air, the hem of his raincoat brushing past the cold light, and landed with his toes touching a protruding stone, his body perfectly steady without swaying.

The cold light pierced the stone wall behind them, and with a hiss, a deep hole was pierced through the stone wall, with faint golden cracks appearing at the edges.

"Such a powerful physical body, I never imagined there was someone in Jiangcheng with such an extraordinary level of marrow cleansing."

The sound came from deep within the cave.

Upon hearing the words "marrow cleansing" from the other party, Su Ye felt a strange sensation arise in his heart.

This level was his judgment based on his own changes and medical perception. After all, he had limited understanding of the general structure of the extraordinary world and had to figure many things out on his own. However, he had now obtained the same level description from the Xuanjing Society.

Only after undergoing marrow cleansing can one be considered to have entered the realm of the extraordinary.

Footsteps sounded.

A white-robed figure emerged from the shadows. The moment he appeared, all the black-robed people fell silent. Even those who had been retreating abruptly stopped, lowered their heads, and dared not utter a sound.

The man in white robes wasn't particularly tall, yet he exuded a heavy, oppressive aura. His breathing was extremely steady, and with each rise and fall of his chest, a wisp of pale golden mist flowed along his mouth and nose, like a thin layer of gold dust clinging to his lungs.

Su Ye saw through it at a glance; a Lung Gold Inner Realm Evolver was not comparable to these so-called black-robed figures.

The white-robed man looked at the corpses scattered on the ground, his eyes turning cold: "So you dare to provoke the Xuanjing Society just because you've completed the Marrow Cleansing Transcendence? You're too arrogant and short-sighted. The Xuanjing Society is far more powerful than you imagine. If those monsters in the provincial capital find out, your fate will be incredibly tragic."

As he spoke, a faint clanging sound emanated from his chest.

The next instant, he made his move. His white robe billowed, and pale golden mist burst forth from his mouth and nose, condensing into several sharp blades of energy in mid-air. The blades skimmed along the stone wall, cutting fine cracks in the rock surface wherever they passed, and the torches were snapped in two.

Seeing this, Su Ye smiled disdainfully. He took a breath, and deep within his lungs, the golden energy was stirred.

At that moment, the white-robed man's expression suddenly changed. He felt a stronger, deeper, and sharper lung metal aura rising from Su Ye's chest. He was immediately shaken. It was the same lung metal aura as his own.

Do not!

That lung metal is even more refined than his!

Like a divine sword piercing the sky.

laugh!

A thin golden blade burst from Su Ye's lips and teeth, instantly severing the white-robed man's golden mist blade. The blade continued its momentum, piercing through his shoulder in an instant, causing him to stagger back half a step. Blood seeped from under the white robe, quickly staining a dark patch.

The man in white robes glanced down at the bloody hole in his shoulder, fear surfacing in his eyes for the first time. His voice tightened: "How is this possible? You're also a true master of the Inner Realm?"

Su Ye looked at him, his tone indifferent, tinged with disdain: "Interior scenes are considered orthodox?"

The white-robed man's pupils suddenly contracted.

The next moment, Su Ye was already in front of him. The white-robed man roared, his chest heaving violently, and pale golden mist surged out wildly, trying to weave a golden barrier in front of him. But Su Ye's lung gold was more condensed, and when he compressed and exploded with his Heavenly Eye-level spiritual power, its power was unimaginable.

呲呲呲!

As Su Ye exhaled, fine golden threads pressed down, like extremely sharp needles piercing into the mist. The white-robed man's golden mist broke apart inch by inch, the outer layer collapsing and the middle section showing a fracture, like smoke being blown away by a strong wind.

Finally, the protective layer of lung energy on his chest was smashed through by Su Ye's punch.

boom!

The white-robed man's chest collapsed, and he crashed into a stone pillar behind him, cracking the pillar. He tried to raise his hand, but Su Ye had already grabbed his wrist.

Click.

With his wrist broken, the white-robed man let out a muffled groan. Just as his other hand was about to form a hand seal, Su Ye's knee strike pierced his abdomen. His stomach spasmed, his diaphragm convulsed, and the golden breath in his chest became erratic. For a lung-gold evolved being, a disordered breathing meant half the attack was interrupted.

This young man's understanding of the extraordinary far exceeds my imagination. How could there be such a troublesome person!

Su Ye raised his hand, and the white bone blade pierced the white-robed man's chest, grazing his fist. The white-robed man's body stiffened, and he opened his mouth, the fear in his eyes still lingering. Pale golden mist overflowed from his mouth and nose, but could no longer gather.

puff.

Su Ye pulled out the bone blade.

The man in white robes slid to the ground, his robes stained with blood, and died in front of a group of men in black robes.

The cave was eerily quiet, except for the sharp sound of a knife falling to the ground.

The White Robe is dead. That was the White Robe, the one in the Xuanjing Society who truly mastered observation, bestowing techniques, and elixirs—someone even ordinary black-robed figures would bow before. Are all the orthodox practitioners of the Inner Realm dead?

The color drained from the faces of the men in black robes, and their eyes no longer held any killing intent as they looked at Su Ye; only the fear of being driven to the brink remained.

Su Ye stood beside the white-robed corpse, his raincoat stained with blood, a white bone blade hanging between his fingers, blood still dripping from its tip. He looked up at the remaining people.

"Go to hell, all of you."

As soon as he finished speaking, his Heavenly Eye opened. An invisible spiritual force spread out from between Su Ye's brows, instantly overwhelming the entire cave. The black-robed men felt a boom in their heads, the firelight before their eyes distorted, and their bodies seemed to suddenly lose control of their limbs. Some tried to escape, but their legs gave way, and they knelt directly in the blood. Others tried to shout, but only broken breaths escaped their throats.

Su Ye's heart pounded, once, twice. Crimson energy surged in his blood, and the golden energy in his lungs rose with each breath. He stepped forward, and golden energy erupted.

A sharp wind swept through the cave, extinguishing the eerie green torches on the stone walls in patches, only to have them sway wildly in the swirling blood and strong wind. Bone blades, fists, metallic breath, and mental pressure clashed and fell in the narrow cave, and screams quickly rose and then disappeared.

After the last man in black robes fell, the only sound in the cave was the dripping of water from the cracks in the rocks.

Tick.

Tick.

Blood flowed down the uneven stone ground, the foul wind swirling in the cave, making the black cloth flutter loudly. Broken utensils on the stone platform rolled to the ground with a clang, as if striking the final bell for this absurd and evil gathering.

Su Ye stood amidst the corpses, slowly withdrawing his spiritual power.

Xuanjing Society, destroyed.

In the corner, the Xuanjing Society member who had been thrown in by Su Ye at the beginning was now completely overwhelmed by fear. He had his legs broken by Su Ye and had been thrown onto the stone ground, leaving him dazed and confused. Now, he was pale and trembling all over.

Today, the most terrifying thing in his life happened.

The Xuanjing Society was wiped out?

That's the Xuanjing Gathering!

Even though this place is just a small outpost in Jiangcheng, in his mind it is already a place that ordinary superhumans would flee at the mere mention of it. There are too many members of the Xuanjing Society here, and there is even a white-robed master here!

The white-robed Xuanjing Society member has at least fully mastered one external technique, and the white-robed Jiangcheng member is even a true master of the inner realm, possessing formidable strength with his lung gold. If these black-robed members were under the white-robed member's command, they would be instantly crushed by that wisp of lung gold.

But just now, the man in white robes died.

He died cleanly and decisively.

The man directly used his even more powerful Lung Metal to crush it, then killed it, and the entire Xuanjing Society stronghold was destroyed.

His lips trembled, and he forced out a weak whisper: "No—"

Su Ye heard this and turned his head to look.

The Xuanjing Society member froze, and the last glimmer of hope in his eyes shattered.

Su Ye picked up a sharp shard of porcelain, flicked it with his finger, and with a soft "plop," the shard broke open the forehead of the Xuanjing Society member. The man's head tilted back, his eyes were still open, but his body went completely limp.

The cave finally fell silent.

Su Ye stood there, looking around: corpses everywhere, broken stone platforms, overturned bottles and jars, eerie green torches burned to half their original size, rainwater seeping in from the cave entrance, flowing along the cracks in the rocks, and finally mixing with blood, turning it black and filthy.

This cave appears to have been carved out later, as there are numerous chisel marks of varying ages on the stone walls, and some places still retain rough fluctuations of spiritual energy. The Xuanjing Society members clearly used extraordinary powers to expand the cave and concealed the entrance with fire markers and scents, which explains why it was hidden so deep.

Su Ye took a few steps inside.

On a stone platform, he saw several unusual containers. The containers were covered with black cloth, and when he lifted it, he found a mass of pale white tissue inside. The substance was soaking in a pale yellow liquid, with fascia-like patterns on its surface and several thin nerve-like fibers attached to its edges, twitching very gently, yet still retaining a certain vitality.

Su Ye's face darkened.

This is what the Xuanjing Society calls the art of observing the living external appearance. They extract the human body, keep it alive with medicine, and then allow later generations to observe, imitate, and learn from it.

Su Ye's spiritual power slightly covered it and immediately sensed the remaining traces. It was a technique, incomplete, but he could capture it. If he wanted, with the observational abilities of Tianzi and Shenshui, he could dismantle it little by little along these incomplete traces and master this external technique.

Su Ye suddenly stimulated himself with his mental energy, and a sharp, piercing sensation of clarity shot through his forehead.

He looked down at the vessel and said in a low voice, "If that's the case, wouldn't I be no different from these people?"

'

He has principles; though he yearns for the extraordinary, he acquires them ethically.

The external vessel was still pulsating slightly, pale and swollen, having detached itself from the scale of the technique originally hidden within the human body, completely transformed into something else entirely. Residual resentment clung deep within its fibers, and its functions were extremely weak. Even if one were to forcibly observe it, what one would obtain would mostly be an incomplete shadow, or even the possibility of demonic possession.

Su Ye remained silent for a moment, then sighed.

He reached out, his spiritual energy slowly descending, the watery aura gently covering the outer vessel, as if soothing a lingering pain. The frequency of its pulsation slowed, and the tiny ripples on the surface of the medicinal liquid gradually subsided.

"The Xuanjing Society has committed too many sins. I have killed them all, which can be considered revenge for you. Rest in peace."

As the last trace of activity dissipated, the outer vessel fell silent. Su Ye found a mound of earth in a corner of the cave, dug it open with a broken knife and stone fragments, and buried the vessel along with the tattered cloth inside.

After doing all that, he continued to examine the cave.

Behind the man in white robes was a stone chamber containing several wooden boxes. Inside the boxes were medicine bottles, tattered picture books, and a few ancient books. The pages were damp and soft, with black ash stuck to the edges. When opened, they emitted a musty, herbal smell. Su Ye casually flipped through a few pages. The contents were very rudimentary; rather than being a spell, they resembled a clumsy set of mantras.

As he looked at it, Su Ye frowned.

Rubbish.

Compared to the breathing technique he derived from his heartbeat rhythm, this thing was far inferior, at least five levels below.

Su Ye felt a rare sense of pride.

Just then, his ears twitched slightly.

There were still faint sounds coming from deeper inside the cave.

Is anyone else there?

The sound was like ropes rubbing against an iron frame. Su Ye put away the ancient book and followed the sound inside.

Deeper inside was a small cavern with a nearly extinguished oil lamp burning its wick, the light falling on an iron bed.

A boy, about sixteen or seventeen years old, was tied to the bed. He was pale, but his features were hard and cold. His lip was bitten and bleeding. His eyes were fixed on the direction of the entrance. Even when he heard footsteps, he did not beg for mercy immediately. He just watched Su Ye warily.

As Su Ye approached, the sunlight fell on his back.

The boy's shirt was torn open, and a shallow line of blood had been drawn along his spine. From below the cervical vertebrae to the junction of the thoracolumbar region, along the arrangement of the spinous processes, there was a dark line lying under the skin. The line followed the direction of the paravertebral fascia and erector spinae muscles, appearing and disappearing, like some kind of force hidden on both sides of the spine.

Su Ye touched it, and a terrifying force returned, causing him to show a surprised expression.

The external manifestation is in the spine!

This was also a boy who had been kidnapped by the Xuanjing Society. Su Ye's intrusion into the Xuanjing Society saved his life. If it had been any later, the boy's back skin and flesh would have been opened, his fascia would have been peeled off, his paravertebral tissue would have been exposed, and finally, his external genitalia would have been forcibly removed.

The boy realized that Su Ye was not a member of the Xuanjing Society, and his voice was filled with pleading: "Save me."

Su Ye didn't ask any more questions. He used the bone blade to cut the restraints, then pressed down on the boy's shoulders and back to check the wound briefly. Hmm, it didn't damage the deep muscles; at most, it was just a little painful.

"Can we walk?" Su Ye asked.

The boy propped himself up on the iron bed, his face deathly pale, but he still nodded. Su Ye glanced at him; his resilience was quite impressive. He had almost been stripped bare, yet he could still walk, his legs weren't weak, he could still speak, and his eyes hadn't broken down. His willpower was resolute.

The young man caught his breath and bowed respectfully to Su Ye, saying, "I will remember your life-saving grace today."

He paused, then added, "I will repay you handsomely in the future."

Su Ye was taken aback. The words sounded a bit old-fashioned, but in the damp and cold cave, they seemed quite serious.

He waved his hand: "Go back. Your appearance is very special. Grow up as soon as possible, and then you will have the strength to fight against these guys."

The boy glanced at the bloodstains on the ground, his throat moved, but in the end he didn't ask anything and walked out while supporting himself against the stone wall.

After the figure disappeared in the direction of the cave entrance, Su Ye couldn't help but chuckle: "Not very old, but already has a strong sense of chivalry."

Those who can awaken their outward appearance are indeed not that simple.

Su Ye turned around, preparing to check the cave again, when suddenly he saw an ancient book lying next to the iron bed where the boy had been tied up.

The book cover was dark brown and felt like some kind of tanned leather. The edges were badly worn, but there was no mold.

Su Ye bent down and picked it up.

There are four characters written on the cover.

"The Dragon and the Snake Change Their Backs".

He turned to the first page, and a line of ancient, dark characters came into view.

"The spine transforms into a dragon and snake, the power penetrates to the very tip—the great dragon shakes its armor, the long snake coils its body, all bones erupt simultaneously, flesh and bone resound together—"