Chapter 526: But What About the Cost?

Chapter 526: Chapter 526: But What About the Cost?

The two exchanged a glance and fell into silence for a moment.

Their greatest fear was whether Chen Xuan was a Great Demon or a Demon Fiend with the ability to bewitch minds. After hearing Chen Xuan’s classification, their concerns were indeed somewhat alleviated, but not by much. Ultimately, it was all a one-sided claim by a taboo, and verifying it seemed quite difficult.

How can one prove they have eternal life?

How to ensure that the taboo of flesh and blood stands on the side of humanity?

After all, the power gap between the two sides was so great, like a mouse being watched by a cat. The cat hadn’t yet pounced, probably only because it wanted to toy with them, and asking the cat for verification was as far-fetched as a fairy tale.

Chen Xuan was fully aware of what the two were thinking.

He smiled slightly, but to others, his writhing face looked extremely eerie, "Use spiritual qi to sense the state of your body, you both should know this technique, right?"

Li Mo, a bit puzzled, did as he was told—actually, he had already checked himself upon awakening, confirming no external injuries and no toxins affecting his organs. However, Ma Shun had come in quickly, so he hadn’t explored further.

Now, as he circulated his spiritual qi once more, he was suddenly shocked to discover that his body was operating a heart method he had never learned before!

"How... how is this possible!?"

A heart method capable of autonomously completing the circulation was something every Loose Cultivator dreamed of! It meant that a cultivator’s body would continuously refine itself, even while sleeping or on the road.

Yet, such a dharma method was not taught by anyone.

Loose Cultivators have always relied on absorbing and exhaling spiritual qi for cultivation, spending vast amounts of time meditating each morning and evening. Once traveling away, their cultivation usually stalls.

However, both combat and earning money are necessities for most Loose Cultivators, and balancing these time-consuming tasks has always been a headache. This is why Loose Cultivators aspire to form partnerships with noble families for a stable salary, meaning more time for cultivation than others.

It is said the Lotus Cloud Sect possesses a heart method that operates autonomously. Some in the world have indeed learned it, but finding a mentor willing to teach it is an incredibly rare chance.

And now such a blessing had fallen into his lap?

Li Mo felt a fiery sensation in his heart, too excited to contain himself!

The experience was even more shocking than eternal life!

He glanced at his disciple, noticing the other wearing a similarly dumbfounded expression, knowing she had received the same spell.

"How... how did you do it?" Li Mo stammered.

"The learned spell is engraved in flesh, and all things of flesh and blood come under my control." Chen Xuan responded leisurely. Just a Purifying Heart Technique, did it excite you so much? "This is merely an introductory technique. I know many heart methods more profound than this."

The idea that these more profound heart methods could also be endowed to him... without needing to learn or cultivate, receiving a spell directly was world-shattering for Li Mo.

"... My master said there is no free feast in the world." Li Ziyan gradually recovered from indescribable astonishment, clenched her fists, and plucked up the courage to ask, "Lord Xuan, may I ask... what is the price we must pay?"

All of this. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ

Chen Xuan seemed to see a big, green cauldron.

"It’s simple." He said solemnly, "Follow the path of the flesh and blood taboo, help me complete the final grand fusion."

"You want more people to follow you, to worship you?" Li Mo paused, then asked.

Indeed, those in the field are quick thinkers.

Chen Xuan didn’t answer, effectively confirming his guess, "This benefits everyone."

"Simply spreading the news about the heart method might drive all Loose Cultivators to flock to you, begging for your blessing." Li Mo admitted.

"It’s not the time yet." Chen Xuan ambiguously shook his head.

The timing wasn’t right because he didn’t have enough spiritual qi to implant a set of abilities into every cultivator. In fact, he found that decomposing and re-constructing Qi Sensing Men was much more challenging than ordinary villagers. Reconstructing one Li Mo equaled ten Ma Shun, and adding the Purifying Heart Technique and Living Dead, he had used up all but ten percent of his stored spiritual qi.

If it weren’t for Wang Ji shouting that one time, Chen Xuan wouldn’t have planned to keep them.

However, facts proved that merging with these two was the right choice; the development value of cultivators was indeed higher than ordinary people—Chen Xuan found during the decomposition and re-fusion process that he could directly acquire all abilities from another, without trading, without limitations, simply by going through once, adding several crystal seeds to his reserve.

Chen Xuan used the previous naming method from the Ability Store, naming them something easy to remember.

"Basic Swordsmanship", a White Ability, not precisely refined, but a skill accumulated over half a lifetime.

"Jianghu Talismanic Art", anything involving talisman drawing could be classified here, clearly not on Liu Shuyue’s level, White.

"Mysticism", containing various ritual processes and miscellaneous knowledge, at least indirectly proving Li Mo was indeed a Loose Cultivator.

"Shrinking Inches", Li Mo’s Ultimate Skill, useful, but not much.

"Blood Curse Order," Li Ziyan’s innate ability, controlling blood formation, a type of spiritual qi attack, seemingly a good match with Flesh and Blood Authority, awaiting development.

Among them, Chen Xuan was most interested in the Blood Curse Order. At first glance, it seemed somewhat similar to the Thousand Thoughts Sword, both projecting spiritual qi to harm. However, the latter had no physical form, being spiritual qi shaped as a sword, regardless of length or size, and could only be in the shape of a sword. The Blood Curse Order had a physical form, with spiritual qi attached to blood, allowing for shape and hardness to vary freely, continuing to exist outside the body.

This ability was undoubtedly a double-edged sword; if the practitioner failed to retrieve the blood in time, the penalty was undoubtedly severe. Yet for Chen Xuan, what he lacked least was blood and flesh, merely needing to attach a small amount of spiritual qi to create various blood entities.

For example... a chair, a rifle, or a car.

Of course, these currently have a shelf life, unless regularly infused with spiritual qi, but the potential is evident.

This also made Chen Xuan realize that Loose Cultivators from the Six Kingdoms were not worthless.

They indeed hadn’t received systematic training, and their talent in techniques was far below that of Lotus Cloud Sect disciples. However, precisely because of their diverse backgrounds, the spells they comprehended were bizarre and could provide a wealth of ability resources for him.

"You two are very fortunate to receive this blessing in advance, and this is merely the beginning." Chen Xuan stroked his chin, "Do you have any questions now?"

Li Mo and Li Ziyan were convinced.

They had never heard of Demon Fiends granting humans spells, let alone making them immortal. They only knew to kill, absorbing the spiritual qi of humans. Eternal life was still unverifiable, but acquiring spells out of thin air was enough to attract all the Loose Cultivators under heaven.

"In that case, I have a task for you," Chen Xuan’s tone shifted, "to comprehend the new heart method you received and instruct the Baihe Village villagers in their cultivation."

"Instruct the villagers?" Li Mo asked in surprise, "Do they also..."

"Some villagers, like you, have received the blessing, and now they are halfway through the threshold of cultivation." Chen Xuan nodded.

Indeed, with abundant spiritual qi, he could directly copy higher-grade spells to everyone, but it wouldn’t include the user’s memory like the Ability Store did. Having spells without knowing how to use them means villagers will only employ them for chopping wood and burning charcoal.

No matter the era, teaching and passing down skills has always been the best way to rapidly elevate a community. Hot Pepper Village had proven this, and he planned to replicate it in Baihe Village.