Chapter 62: Evil Art

Chen Lingxi held the Undying Willow branch, a faint smile touching his lips.

It trembled slightly in his palm, warm to the touch. It felt like a tender shoot freshly plucked from spring water, impossibly supple.

He looked up at the nine-zhang-tall willow tree. Its lush crown rustled as countless branches swayed gently in the night wind.

The bare, dead branch from earlier had already retracted deep into the foliage, leaving no trace, as if it had never reached out at all.

'I wonder what use the Undying Willow Branch has... choosing one of two...'

His smile deepened as he tucked the Undying Willow branch into his musk-skin bag.

Everything within the Thorough Awakening Spiritual Chamber perfectly mirrored the outside world, save for the twin precious mirrors hanging high in the sky.

"Undying Willow," he whispered. "I offered no sacrifice. Why give me this branch?"

'Is it because I planted it as a child?' Chen Lingxi wondered. 'Did it recognize me?'

At that thought, he hesitated a moment before pressing his palm back against the trunk, slowly channeling his spiritual qi into it.

This time, something changed.

His spiritual qi surged upward, following the dense, intricate network of veins deep within the trunk.

His consciousness did not sink into the earth. Instead, it rose alongside the qi, ascending through the trunk and past the branches, climbing higher and higher.

Then, he saw something even stranger.

Suspended in the very depths of the foliage, nestled right at the center of countless branches, was a cocoon.

It was roughly the size of a fist and a translucent white, like a piece of flawless mutton-fat jade soaked in moonlight. A faint radiance rippled across its surface.

Through the semi-transparent shell, he could vaguely make out a tiny silhouette curled up inside. The shadow was incredibly small, huddled tightly into a ball like an infant in the womb.

Chen Lingxi's spiritual qi reached within three cun of the cocoon before hitting a wall. An invisible barrier seemed to block his path, repelling his senses entirely.

His consciousness was jolted away from the cocoon and slammed back into his own body.

He opened his eyes and let out a long breath of stale air.

'What is inside that cocoon?'

'The cauldron artifact Undying Willow... willow leaves, willow twigs, willow branches... and now this strange cocoon...'

The Undying Willow was shrouded in profound mystery, but Chen Lingxi knew better than to pry any further.

'The cauldron artifacts possess their own consciousness. The Time Candle does, and so does the Beast-Fighting Palace. Only this Undying Willow lacks a Venerable Cauldron, yet it still commands respect.'

He pulled his hand back, took two steps in retreat, and cupped his hands in a formal bow toward the tree.

With the proper respects paid, he looked away, closed his eyes, and fell into deep thought.

'I still have six days left in Thorough Awakening... I cannot afford to waste them.'

Chen Lingxi carefully weighed his current predicament.

'First, Yang Zhuri gave me that jade pendant to alter my body, intending to cultivate me into a great medicine. I should investigate his Qingjiang Villa.'

'Second, if the opportunity arises, I can also test the waters with Zhao Yong. He also wants to use me as a medicine primer... though I have no idea what kind of medicine he is brewing.'

Chen Lingxi let out a sudden, wry chuckle.

'To think I have become some rare medicinal herb, coveted and schemed over by so many different people.'

His amusement faded as his focus shifted to the most pressing matter at hand.

'Third, with the Qi-Gathering Pill, I have enough resources to reach the Qi Circulation 4th Floor or even higher. But I do not have the True Formulas of the Six Qi True Method.'

Relying purely on basic breathing techniques to circulate his spiritual qi at the Qi Circulation 3rd Floor already felt far too slow. If he had an abundance of spiritual energy, it would not be an issue; his cultivation would still steadily advance.

But what about the Qi Circulation 4th Floor?

'Without the true formulas, my cultivation will likely hit a wall at the Qi Circulation 4th Floor.'

'There are also the three missing stances of the Seven Forms of Halting War... without the follow-up manual, I cannot break into the Golden Body realm. Switching to a different cultivation method is not an option either. First, I do not have a suitable Golden Body manual, and second, it would take far too much time.'

Chen Lingxi exhaled another long breath, the image of Lin Suri flashing through his mind.

'Lin Suri, the Time Candle...'

A plan formed in his mind. He stood up.

'I have already gained a great deal from this Thorough Awakening. It is time I took a risk.'

His mind made up, he wasted no more time.

The Concealed Edge Method circulated silently within his body.

He slipped out of Liujie Alley and headed down the main street, making his way toward the southern side of the city.

'First stop, Qingjiang Villa.'

Qingjiang Villa sat nestled in a secluded bend of the Yuanjiang, its white walls and dark tiles standing between the mountains at its back and the water at its front. Under the moonlight, a shallow stream running past the entrance shimmered with rippling light.

The last time Chen Lingxi came here, it had been broad daylight. He had arrived in the Baosu Marquis Residence's carriage and was guided into the back garden by a servant.

Tonight, however, it was the dead of night.

He circled the estate's perimeter walls until he found the darkest corner. Tapping his toe lightly against the base of the wall, he vaulted upward, clearing the barricade with feather-light grace and dropping silently into the shadows of a bamboo grove inside.

The bamboo was densely packed. As the wind swept through, the rustling of the leaves perfectly masked the faint sound of his landing.

Yang Zhuri's villa was not massive. It was a compact, three-courtyard estate comprising a main hall, side wings, and a rear garden.

Hugging the wall, Chen Lingxi slipped silently past the rear garden and skirted around the main hall. That was when he heard the sound of water.

The faint splashing came from the rear courtyard, carried on the night breeze. Had he not been listening closely, he would have missed it entirely.

He followed the sound through a moon gate, and the space suddenly opened up. Right in the middle of the rear courtyard sat a man-made pool. The water gleamed with an eerie, deep green hue under the moonlight. A faint, pale mist drifted over the surface, refusing to dissipate. Instead, it hovered about a chi above the water, swirling slowly like a living veil.

Eight bronze lamps encircled the pool. The cyan flames burning within them cast a glow that made the water look even more profoundly green.

'These bronze lamps... they seem to be gathering spiritual energy!'

'Is Yang Zhuri also using an array to gather energy? But it does not look like he is cultivating spiritual qi.' Silently, Chen Lingxi slipped behind an ornamental rockery. Concealed by its shadow, he peered into the pool.

There was a man in the water.

He sat bare-chested and cross-legged directly in the center, the water rising to his waist.

His skin was as white as jade. He was slender but far from frail, the muscles of his shoulders and back so sharply defined they looked as if they had been chiseled from stone.

'Yang Zhuri.' Chen Lingxi recognized him immediately.

But the Yang Zhuri before him was practically a different person from the gentle, elegant young nobleman he had seen during the day.

Golden light coursed around his body. Yet it was not the pure, brilliant gold of Zhao Qinglou's energy. Instead, it was tainted by streaks of dark, bloody red. Like gold and crimson threads woven together, the tainted light slithered and pulsed just beneath his skin.

But the most terrifying change was in his face. His exceptionally handsome features were now webbed with countless fine, bulging blood vessels. They spidered out from his eye sockets, crept past his temples, and snaked down his neck before vanishing into his chest.

The water slowly churned around him, forming a sluggish whirlpool.

From the eye of the vortex, wisps of dark red mist drifted upward, seeping directly into his pores.

The mist carried a heavy, sickening stench of blood—a stench so thick that Chen Lingxi could smell it clearly from a dozen paces away.

His gaze drifted toward the edge of the pool, and his pupils suddenly contracted.

As Yang Zhuri continued to absorb the thick mist, the view cleared just enough for Chen Lingxi to see the stone slabs at the water's edge. More than a dozen corpses lay there, arranged in a neat, orderly row!

There were both boys and girls among the dead, all youths no older than fifteen or sixteen. Every single one of them was deathly pale, utterly drained of color.

Their wrists had all been slashed open. Dark crimson blood still sluggishly oozed from the wounds, flowing down grooves that had been deliberately carved into the stone and trickling directly into the pool.

Chen Lingxi furrowed his brows deeply.

'What kind of evil art is this?'

The charming young lord from this morning—the one who mastered flower arrangements, excelled at archery and riding, and possessed a flawless grasp of poetry and song—was secretly a blood-drinking fiend by night.

'Yang Zhuri has likely already reached Golden Body Great Completion. He has been hiding his true cultivation all this time.'

He watched in silence as Yang Zhuri continued his cultivation.

About the time it took to finish a cup of tea, the whirlpool in the center of the pool gradually came to a halt.

The intertwined golden-crimson light radiating from Yang Zhuri slowly receded into his body. The web of blood vessels on his face faded away inch by inch.

He opened his eyes. His peach-blossom eyes were as clear and bright as ever, bearing no trace of the sinister, evil aura from moments before.

He stood up from the pool, walked to the edge, and casually pulled a white robe over his shoulders. His movements were utterly composed and unhurried, as though he had merely finished an ordinary bath.

Footsteps sounded from beyond the moon gate. An Old Servant with a hunched back walked in, holding a bronze basin filled with clean towels and a steaming bowl of broth.

The Old Servant approached the pool, set the basin down on a stone table, and stood respectfully to the side.

Yang Zhuri picked up a towel to dry his face, then took the bowl of hot broth and drank it slowly. "This batch delivered today," he suddenly remarked, "is too old."

His tone was incredibly flat. The Old Servant bowed and said, "Forgive me, Young Master. The number of refugees passing through Yuanjiang Prefecture has dwindled lately. Youths of fifteen or sixteen are becoming increasingly difficult to find."

"Fewer refugees?" Yang Zhuri set down the bowl and arched an eyebrow. "Xiao Changlv rarely suffers a defeat in Qinghua Province. By all logic, there should be more people fleeing, not fewer."

"Indeed," the Old Servant replied. "It is precisely because Xiao Changlv was defeated that the imperial court reclaimed several prefectural cities in Qinghua Province. The local authorities have corralled the refugees outside those cities, forbidding them from moving freely."

Yang Zhuri fell silent for a moment. He placed the bowl back into the bronze basin and picked up another towel to dry his hands.

"Pausing for a few days is fine. Once I have that great medicine, I will not need this fodder anymore."

The Old Servant bowed in acknowledgment, picked up the bronze basin, and withdrew.

Chen Lingxi listened to the exchange with an expressionless face, then slipped away in silence.

He did not linger, silently departing Qingjiang Villa.

The waters of the Yuanjiang flowed slowly through the night. The river's surface reflected the cold moon above, scattering its reflection into countless specks of silver light.

He stood by the riverbank, staring out at the rippling light while playing back everything he had just seen and heard in his mind.

'Golden Body Great Completion... an evil art... the Crown Prince's faction...'

'Yang Zhuri, son of the Sun-Holding General.'

'County Princess Yunhe, daughter of the King of the East.'

He shook his head, burying the thoughts for now.

Right now, he was in the Thorough Awakening Spiritual Chamber. It was enough to simply commit these facts to memory; he could plan his next move once he returned to reality.

He turned on his heel and headed back toward the Baosu Marquis Residence.

'It is time to pay Lin Suri a visit.'