Chapter 184 - 183: Schemes from All Sides

Chapter 184: Chapter 183: Schemes from All Sides

Late at night, inside the simulated Great Derivation Imperial Capital on Fangcun Mountain.

A man in red was hanging upside down from the city gatehouse, his face covered by a red cloth, his wide-open eyes bloodshot.

A single glance revealed a terrifying Evil Qi washing over the area, warning all living beings to stay away.

If anyone were to inspect him, they would discover that the blood in the young man’s body had stopped flowing. His neck was bruised purple from strangulation, and a section of his spine had been pulled out of place.

The man’s body was cold, numb, and stiff; he had clearly been dead for some time.

In the frigid night air of Great Derivation, faint livor mortis had even begun to appear on the surface of his body.

Suddenly, a strange, cold deathly aura slowly emerged from the corpse, followed by a faint twitch of his dangling index finger.

The twitch seemed like a trick of the eye, but then a new change began to occur.

The body, which had been still, began to sway gently on its own, though there was no wind.

Once, twice, three times...

As time passed, the swaying grew more violent until the young man’s body was swinging with enough force to shake the rock weighing hundreds of pounds that anchored him.

After this shaking continued for the time it takes an incense stick to burn, 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

SNAP!

The young man’s tightly shut eyes snapped open, revealing cloudy orbs that were entirely white.

...

’This is exhausting,’ Xiang Ziyun grumbled to herself, squatting to the side in the confinement cell.

She had been ordered around all day, forced to conscientiously obey her enemy just to maintain her persona. It was simply outrageous.

Now that night had fallen, she could finally relax for a bit.

Squatting in the corner, the young woman squinted, sneaking curious glances at the young man beside her.

She was incredibly curious about Fang Can.

For instance, how did this guy cultivate? What method did he use to reach the legendary Profound Gate Tenth Layer in just two months?

This was the perfect opportunity to observe him and see if she could secretly learn a thing or two.

Under her curious gaze, the young man remained motionless, facing the wall like a golden-bodied statue of Buddha, his expression solemn.

A pile of food she had gathered was stacked beside Fang Can, and she would occasionally pick up a piece to eat.

’How boring...’

After watching for nearly an hour with no results, the young woman gave up on her spying and began to cultivate, continuing her training on the Heaven-Ascending Road.

The so-called Heaven-Ascending Road was the Realm after the Transcendent Body, divided into the First through Ninth Turns.

The gap between each Turn was immense, and the difficulty of advancing grew more terrifying with each subsequent level, as hard as ascending to heaven itself.

Hence its name, the Heaven-Ascending Road. But the boost in power one gained after crossing into a new Turn was also significant.

Although the difficulty of advancing a single Turn was said to be greater than all the previous Realms combined, there was no clear-cut division between each Turn.

Due to the nature of the Martial Dao of the mind, every system was completely different, and there were many different names for the stages between each Turn.

However, it was commonly accepted that the state between each Turn was divided into an Eclosion Period and a Mature Period.

The Eclosion Period was the stage of rapid power growth immediately following a breakthrough.

As long as your power was still increasing, you were considered to be in the Eclosion Period of that Turn.

For example, the Hundred-Day Foundation Establishment was a clear example of an Eclosion Period stage.

When your power stagnated, you had entered the Mature Period from the Eclosion Period.

For an old fogey in the Mature Period whose power had stagnated, the only way to grow stronger again—aside from special techniques—was to attempt another breakthrough.

By entering the Eclosion Period of the next Turn, they could resume getting stronger.

However, due to the immense gap between Turns, the vast majority of these old fogeys would get stuck in the Mature Period of a certain Turn, forced to watch helplessly as they marched step by step toward death.

Of course, it wasn’t just the old fogeys in their Mature Period who could break through to the next Realm.

If you felt you were ready, it was perfectly fine to break through directly from the Eclosion Period.

Xiang Ziyun sat with her back to him not far from Fang Can and began to cultivate her scholarly energy by reciting poetry in her mind.

This scholarly energy was condensed from the light of the mind and could be used to manifest words into reality, turning recited verses into tangible phenomena.

Although she was in the Eclosion Period, her power and scholarly energy would grow bit by bit even if she did nothing.

But this growth process could be accelerated through effort.

For most people, the method of acceleration was to follow their heart’s desire and adhere to the path of their own heritage.

If you were a scholar, you wrote poetry. If you were a Martial Artist, you trained your body. If you were a songstress, you sang.

As long as you persistently followed the path of your own system, you could continuously improve.

The young woman chanted silently. As a cultivator in the Eclosion stage of the First Turn, her scholarly energy was the size of a fist.

After a day of growth, her scholarly energy should have increased by a small percentage... but it had grown by half?!?

Xiang Ziyun stared blankly at the scholarly energy within her chest. This was equivalent to at least ten days of hard cultivation.

’Could I be a legendary, peerless genius?’

The moment the thought appeared, she dismissed it.

After all, she was all too aware of her own aptitude from the first half of her life. While she was one in ten thousand, she wasn’t so talented as to be delusional.

To verify her theory, the young woman began to focus on cultivating her scholarly energy.

But after two hours, even with active cultivation which should have accelerated her progress, her scholarly energy only increased by the size of a thumb.

’Just as I thought...’ The young woman turned her head to look at the statue-like young man beside her.

After eliminating all other impossibilities, the only remaining reason for her accelerated cultivation was the time she had spent inside this guy’s body.

’Back then, his spine was blocking me for at least the time it takes two incense sticks to burn. It couldn’t be because of that, could it?’

The young woman had, after all, participated in research concerning Fang Can. Of course she knew the story of how Fang Can, the number one human cauldron, had helped Ye Qingshi become second on the Ascending Dragon List.

’Is it really possible? Is this guy like a living treasure-elixir?’

Xiang Ziyun’s heart pounded in shock. She glanced at Fang Can and secretly made a resolution.

’Nothing ventured, nothing gained. I have to find another chance to get inside this young man’s chest cavity and probe his secrets.’

...

In a dark room somewhere in Great Chu, Xiang Longtao was licking his wounds in a corner like a sick dog.

At this moment, multiple bones in his body were shattered, and all his subordinates had been slaughtered by Fang Can and kicked out of Fangcun Mountain. It was truly the darkest moment of his life.

Of course, what vexed him most was his other head.

"Royal Brother, how do you feel? How does it feel!"

The head growing on his neck said sarcastically, "Didn’t you claim to be invincible among those in your Realm? Why are you in such a pathetic state?"

"Shut up! I told you to shut up!" Xiang Longtao roared, losing his composure. "Once I reach the First Turn, I will wash away today’s shame."

"Hahahaha! Xiang Longtao, you’re like a stray dog on the street right now. A single failure is enough to completely break your composure. When that boy reaches the First Turn, do you really think you’ll be able to beat him?"

"With your current mentality, even if you step onto the Heaven-Ascending Road..."

Before the female head could finish, Xiang Longtao forcibly suppressed it back into his body.

"Once I get rid of this inner demon of mine, I will surely ascend to a new level," Xiang Longtao said coldly, forcing himself to calm down as he prepared to force a breakthrough to the Heaven-Ascending Road.

However, the mentality he displayed made a hidden observer shake their head, thinking that he still needed to be tempered.