120: Mysterious Yin Technique! External Avatar! Fragment of the Void Heaven Map!

Chapter One Hundred and Twenty: Xuan Yin Art! External Incarnation! heavenly void map fragment!

The Emperor of Yue's bedchamber, located at the deepest part of the palace's central axis, featured carved beams and painted rafters, with upturned eaves and bracket sets, epitomizing extreme luxury.

Even in the middle of the night, the palace remained brightly lit, the faint sounds of silk and bamboo instruments audible, forming a sharp contrast with the eerie silence of the Cold Palace.

Inside the bedchamber hall, bright pearls hung high, making it as bright as day.

The Emperor of Yue was dressed in bright yellow casual robes, leaning against a large dragon throne covered in soft animal pelts. Before him were delicacies and fine wine, and on either side, several graceful dancers in light gauze were dancing to the decadent music, their long sleeves fluttering and their eyes full of expression.

There were also musicians playing in the corner, creating a decadent and joyful atmosphere.

The Emperor of Yue appeared to be about forty years old, with a square face and a short beard. Between his brows was the majesty of one who had long held a high position. At this moment, his eyes were narrowed, and his fingers gently tapped the armrest to the beat, looking completely intoxicated by the pleasure.

Lu Qiu and Zhao Wen landed silently on the white marble plaza outside the bedchamber, like ghosts emerging from the night.

The guards and eunuchs outside the hall seemed to be under a body-freezing technique, standing frozen in place with hollow eyes.

Lu Qiu did not barge in directly. With a slight thought, hundreds of Illusion Spirit Butterflies flew quietly out of the gray spatial bead.

These butterfly swarms had undergone transformation, their wings shimmering with brilliant light, especially the dozens of mother butterflies with pale gold patterns, which possessed extraordinary spiritual charm.

Under Lu Qiu's control, they turned into a silently flowing seven-colored halo, enveloping the entire bedchamber hall like a dream.

In an instant, the scene inside the hall changed slightly.

The dancing girls, the musicians, and even the palace maids and eunuchs standing by all froze simultaneously. The light in their eyes quickly dimmed, and expressions of confusion, infatuation, or terror appeared on their faces, as if they had fallen into different dreams. Their movements became slow and strange, and the music went out of tune, becoming chaotic.

The Emperor of Yue, perched high upon his dragon throne, also stiffened slightly. His fingers tapping the armrest stopped, his eyes showed a moment of trance, and the expression of intoxication on his face seemed to freeze.

In the entire hall, except for Lu Qiu and Zhao Wen, everyone seemed to have fallen into the blurred illusion created by the seven-colored illusory light.

Lu Qiu took a step, calmly walking through the strangely moving, sleepwalking palace attendants, straight to the center of the hall, his calm gaze falling on the Emperor of Yue on the dragon throne.

"Stop pretending."

His voice wasn't loud, but it clearly penetrated the slightly noisy music and sleep-talk, echoing in the hall.

The Emperor of Yue acted as if he hadn't heard, still maintaining that slightly stiff, dazed state, staring hollowly toward the dancers, as if truly deep in an illusion and oblivious to Lu Qiu's arrival.

A cold sneer curled at the corner of Lu Qiu's mouth.

Although his Illusion Spirit Butterflies' illusion capabilities had greatly increased, it was impossible for them to so easily make a Late Stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator completely fall into an illusion without knowing it.

"It seems you intend to keep pretending." Lu Qiu stopped wasting words and pointed his right index finger into the air.

"Swish!"

A highly condensed scarlet gold fire line, only as thick as a chopstick but containing an incinerating aura, shot out like a spiritual snake leaving its hole. It tore through the air with a sharp whistling sound, heading straight for the Emperor of Yue's forehead!

Its speed was incredibly fast and its power highly concentrated, far exceeding the casualness he had shown when dealing with the yellow-robed man before.

This strike was enough to heavily injure or even kill an ordinary Late Stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator!

Just as the scarlet gold fire line was about to touch the Emperor of Yue's forehead—

The "Emperor of Yue" on the dragon throne moved!

His originally dazed and hollow eyes instantly became as sharp as a falcon's, and his body slid several feet to the side and back with ghostly speed, narrowly avoiding this fatal blow!

"Boom!"

The scarlet gold fire line hit the backrest of the dragon throne. The magnificent backrest, made of precious red sandalwood and inlaid with gold and jade, was instantly pierced by a charred hole. Golden flames ignited at the edges and quickly spread!

The "Emperor of Yue" stood firm, the expression of indulgence long gone, replaced by a complex look of shock, anger, malice, and deep wariness.

But he quickly forced out a hint of panic and anxiety, bowing to Lu Qiu and speaking in a "flustered" tone, "Immortal... Immortal Master, your arrival is a great honor. This humble emperor failed to welcome you properly, please forgive me! I wonder what important matter brings the Immortal Master here in the middle of the night? Could it be that... that evil cult entrenched in the palace has disturbed the Immortal Master? This humble emperor has also suffered greatly and is in unbearable misery!"

His performance was exquisite, portraying the image of a Mortal emperor held hostage by an "evil cult" perfectly. Had Lu Qiu not known the truth, he might have been fooled.

Lu Qiu just looked at him indifferently, as if watching a boring monkey show, and directly stripped away the disguise: "Leader of the Black Fiend Cult, how much longer do you intend to act?"

The panic on the "Emperor of Yue's" face instantly froze, then receded like a tide, revealing the cold and grim reality underneath.

He slowly straightened his body, the "cowardly" aura of a monarch vanished, replaced by a deep, abyss-like cold majesty mixed with the aura of blood and slaughter.

He stared at Lu Qiu with a sinister gaze, like a venomous snake staring at its prey.

"Who exactly are you? Why must you drive my Black Fiend Cult to extinction?" His voice was low and raspy, with a metallic grinding quality, completely different from his "flustered" tone earlier.

He really couldn't understand. He had hidden so deeply and planned for so many years, and just as his great work was about to succeed, why did such a terrifyingly powerful star who knew everything about him suddenly appear?

Lu Qiu couldn't be bothered to waste words with him. His goal for this trip was clear: kill the enemy and seize the treasures. "A dying man has no need for words."

"Hmph!" Ferocious light surged in the Emperor of Yue's eyes. Knowing that today could not end peacefully and that the other party's killing intent was set, he snarled.

"Then it depends on Your Excellency's ability! Do you really think that by killing one of my Incarnations, you've got my true self cornered?"

Before he finished speaking, an aura of blood and slaughter, far stronger and more solid than that of the previous yellow-robed Incarnation, suddenly erupted from around him!

The spiritual power fluctuations of the peak Late Foundation Establishment Stage were released without reservation, even faintly touching the edge of a False Core!

Meanwhile, his hands rapidly formed seals, and his bright yellow casual robes fluttered without wind, their surface covered with dense, blood-colored runes that squirmed like living things!

The temperature in the entire bedchamber hall suddenly dropped, a thick smell of blood filled the air, and small blood droplets even began to condense on the floor and walls!

The palace attendants who were originally affected by the Illusion Spirit Butterflies and trapped in illusions now screamed and collapsed to the ground under this terrifying pressure of blood and slaughter, blood seeping from their seven orifices, their fates unknown.

Zhao Wen's face turned pale, and he hurriedly activated his profound earth shield. An earthy yellow light shield protected him firmly, resisting the pervasive erosion of the blood and slaughter aura, his heart filled with even greater shock.

The Emperor of Yue's true strength was more than a level stronger than that yellow-robed Incarnation!

"Blood Refining Divine Light? It's just an incomplete Cultivation Technique from the Xuan Yin Sutra." Facing this terrifying momentum, Lu Qiu only shook his head slightly, his tone carrying a hint of disdain.

He no longer delayed; against such an enemy, thunderous methods were most effective.

With a thought, the swarm of Illusion Spirit Butterflies circling outside the hall suddenly tightened. The seven-colored illusory light no longer dispersed to confuse but concentrated into a solid beam of seven-colored light, descending upon the Emperor of Yue!

At the same time, at his brow, two invisible "Spirit Shocking Thorn" were already poised to strike!

The Emperor of Yue shouted sharply, blood-light surging around him. A solid blood-colored light shield protected him, and he spat out a mouthful of essence blood, which merged into the blood-colored runes before him. Those runes instantly came to life, turning into vicious little blood-colored snakes that hissed and lunged at the seven-colored light beam and Lu Qiu!

A brief but incredibly intense clash erupted in this luxurious bedchamber hall.

The seven-colored illusory light collided with the blood-colored light shield, making a sizzling corrosive sound; the Spirit Shocking Thorn silently pierced through the blood and slaughter aura, stabbing straight into the Emperor of Yue's Sea of Consciousness; the blood-colored snakes were easily incinerated by the Chixiao True Fire Lu Qiu casually waved... The Emperor of Yue's strength indeed far exceeded that of the yellow-robed Incarnation, and his methods were more bizarre and ruthless, with Blood Escape, illusions, and foul blood toxins appearing one after another.

But in the face of Lu Qiu's powerful Divine Sense, comparable to the Early Core Formation Stage, his pure and overbearing Chixiao True Fire, and the hard-to-defend Spirit Shocking Thorn, he was still completely suppressed.

Especially when Lu Qiu found an Opportunity to summon the Golden-Backed Demonic Mantis again, and that terrifying dark-golden figure appeared in the hall with a despair-inducing ferocity, complete despair and madness finally appeared in the Emperor of Yue's eyes.

He knew he couldn't escape.

"Even if I die, I'll take you with me!" The Emperor of Yue acted like a madman, suddenly slapping his crown, intending to self-detonate his Dantian to perish together with Lu Qiu!

However, Lu Qiu was already prepared.

The moment he struck toward his crown, the sixth "Spirit Shocking Thorn," which had been poised, struck first with the fastest speed and strongest power, ruthlessly stabbing into the very core of his Sea of Consciousness!

The Emperor of Yue's movements suddenly froze, the madness in his eyes quickly turning into hollowness and deathly silence.

The self-destruction process was interrupted, and the violent blood and slaughter aura around him quickly withered and dissipated like a deflated balloon.

With a "thud," this true leader of the Black Fiend Cult, who had hidden so deeply and planned for decades, and the nominal supreme ruler of the State of Yue, fell straight to the cold floor, his eyes wide with unwilling resentment, completely devoid of life.

Lu Qiu waved his hand, and Chixiao True Fire swept past, turning his corpse into ashes as well, leaving behind only a bulging Storage Pouch.

He put away the Storage Pouch and looked around the messy, silent bedchamber, no longer staying.

"Let's go."

After saying a word to Zhao Wen, Lu Qiu walked out of the hall first.

Zhao Wen quickly followed. As he passed the collapsed palace attendants, he conveniently picked up a unconscious Qi Condensation level five Cultivator wearing the robes of a low-level Black Fiend Cult Disciple.

This was what Lu Qiu had ordered before, to leave one alive.

The two figures disappeared into the night, quickly leaving this imperial Forbidden Ground that had just experienced a bloody slaughter... In the night sky outside the palace, the green wind boat turned into an inconspicuous streak of light, racing toward the outskirts of the capital.

After flying for about several hundred miles, Lu Qiu lowered his Escape Light in a deserted, rocky valley.

Waving his hand to set up simple concealment and warning Formations, Lu Qiu sat cross-legged on a bluestone.

Zhao Wen tossed the unconscious Black Fiend Cult Disciple aside and stood respectfully to the side.

Lu Qiu took out the Storage Pouch he had obtained from the Emperor of Yue, erased the Divine Sense imprint on it, and took out the items inside one by one.

First to catch his eye were several Magical Artifacts with dense Devilish Qi: a pitch-black alms bowl the size of a bowl's mouth, its surface covered with hideous ghost faces, emitting a cold aura that could suck souls; a spike only an inch long but as red as blood, its tip flashing with cold light and faintly surrounded by a bloody smell; and several small black flags painted with demon patterns, clearly used for setting up some evil Formation.

Lu Qiu's gaze swept over them without much interest. The power of these demonic Magical Artifacts might be acceptable, but they did not suit his Cultivation Technique, and their aura was sinister, posing significant risks in use.

Next were a few dark-colored Jade Slips. Lu Qiu picked up one of them and immersed his Divine Sense into it.

What was recorded inside was indeed the Cultivation Techniques practiced by the Black Fiend Cult from top to bottom.

The "Black Fiend Shura Art" practiced by ordinary cult members was crude and vicious, using Evil Qi to temper the body; although progress was fast, it had endless hidden troubles. The "Fiend Demon Art" practiced by the Four Great Blood Attendants involved choosing one of the Five Elements' Evil Qi for Foundation Establishment and demonizing oneself; it was more powerful but also made it easier to lose one's mind and become a monster that only knew how to kill. The one the Emperor of Yue primarily practiced was called "Blood Refining Divine Light," which required a large amount of essence blood and Evil Qi for refinement; the blood light produced was filthy and malicious, capable of polluting Magical Artifacts and eroding spiritual power, possessing the greatest power but also being the most dangerous.

"As expected, they all come from the incomplete chapters of the Xuan Yin Sutra, and specifically the most unorthodox parts that take shortcuts," Lu Qiu thought to himself.

The complete Xuan Yin Sutra is a top-tier Cultivation Technique of Jiyin Island, pointing directly to Soul Transformation and encompassing everything.

But these incomplete chapters only inherited the quick-fix and malicious parts, losing the Foundation. The deeper one practiced, the further they strayed, and eventually, it would inevitably backfire on the user.

But these were not what he wanted from this trip.

He continued to examine the other Jade Slips.

Soon, in a greyish-white, ancient-textured Jade Slip, he found his target.

"Fiend Pill Art"!

This was an extremely strange and overbearing secret technique, one that could be said to defy heaven and change one's fate!

According to the Jade Slip, even for a Late Stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator with poor Spiritual Root Aptitude and a severed path to the Dao, as long as they followed this method and consumed the "blood condensing five elements pill" refined through a special technique, they would have a one-third chance to forcibly condense a "false Golden Core" similar to a Core Formation Cultivator's Golden Core—a "fiend core"!

When this "fiend core" is first successfully condensed, its power, the boost to magical power, and its life-extending effects are slightly inferior to a true Golden Core, but the difference is not great. It is enough to give a Cultivator strength and Lifespan comparable to the Early Core Formation Stage!

However, its flaws were also extremely fatal.

Because the "fiend core" is a man-made False Core and not condensed from one's own Great Dao, once it is formed, there is no chance for even the slightest improvement for the rest of one's life. One's cultivation will forever remain at the level of the Early Core Formation Stage.

And because the condensation process is overbearing, it damages the Foundation, completely severing the future path of the Dao, with no possibility of further progress.

Lu Qiu already knew this information.

What he valued was not using this technique to form a core for himself.

He had the Crimson Sky Burning Heaven Technique pointing directly to the Soul Transformation Dao and many other opportunities; his goal was the true Golden Core, Nascent Soul, and even higher. Why would he cut off his own future?

What he wanted was to use this secret technique, combined with another secret method—the "External Incarnation"—to refine for himself an external avatar with the strength of the Early Core Formation Stage!

Whether in the State of Yue or the Chaotic Star Sea he planned to visit in the future, a Core Formation Stage Cultivator was enough to dominate a region and possess significant status and say.

Owning a Core Formation Incarnation, whether for handling trivial matters, exploring dangerous places, guarding an Immortal Cave, or acting as a trump card or double at a critical moment, was of immeasurable value!

His gaze then fell on another Jade Slip nearby that recorded the "External Incarnation"; this was one of the goals of his trip.

Finally, Lu Qiu's gaze fell on an item placed separately and wrapped in soft silk. He picked it up and unfolded it.

This was a brocade handkerchief with a strange texture, neither silk nor hemp, warm to the touch but slightly yellowed, clearly being extremely ancient.

The brocade handkerchief emitted an extremely faint, moonlight-like glowing white light, which was especially prominent in the darkness.

And on the brocade handkerchief, a map with simple lines but a vast, ancient aura was embroidered with some unknown silver thread.

The map was incomplete, with torn edges. The center depicted a boundless sea with surging waves, dotted with scattered islands, and marked with some difficult-to-identify ancient symbols. In one corner, a blurry palace-like pattern was specifically marked.

heavenly void map fragment!

On Lu Qiu's face, a most sincere smile finally appeared, his eyes flashing with the light of satisfaction and expectation.

The purpose of this trip was considered a complete success.

Everything that needed to be obtained had been acquired.

The "Fiend Pill Art" and the "External Incarnation" were for refining an external avatar; the complete corner of the heavenly void map fragment was an important token and guide for traveling to the Chaotic Star Sea and exploring the Void Heaven Palace.