Chapter 242 Cultivation Technique
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"I suspect there's something wrong with your technique."
Chen Mo's voice came from the shadow puppet, his doubt undisguised: "Otherwise, how could it be impossible not to learn it?"
"Is there something wrong with my cultivation technique?"
The chains binding the Corpse Demon rattled a few times, making a series of clanging sounds.
"The Mysterious Ice Dividing Light Needle was the most popular introductory technique for rogue cultivators three hundred years ago; eight out of ten rogue cultivators had practiced it."
Its voice rose a few decibels, "You're the one who's stupid, yet you dare to say there's something wrong with my technique?"
"What's popular doesn't necessarily mean it's useful," Chen Mo said. "Besides, who knows if something from three hundred years ago still works? What if you remembered it wrong?"
"It's normal for your memory to be a bit muddled after being locked up for so long."
"Am I confused?"
"That's right, three hundred years. A normal person would have developed dementia long ago. Even though you've become a corpse demon, who knows if your brain will deteriorate?"
"..."
Even though the Corpse Demon no longer needed to breathe, its chest was still heaving violently.
The runes on the iron chains flickered, and the entire rock wall trembled slightly.
"Okay, okay, okay."
It said "good" three times in a row, its voice becoming calmer. "You said my cultivation technique has a problem? Then let's change it. Do you want an escape technique?"
"Aren't you afraid of dying? If you can't win, run away. That's the most practical way to save your life."
"What kind of escape technique?"
"Earth Escape Technique," the Corpse Demon said. "It uses true energy to communicate with the earth's energy, allowing one to escape into the ground, instantly reaching hundreds or thousands of feet in distance."
"Simple and practical, perfect for a useless person like you."
"Sounds good." Chen Mo ignored the other person's last sentence and said calmly, barely suppressing his surprise, "I'll give it a try."
The Corpse Demon recited a spell.
It was very short, less than twenty breaths in.
After listening, Chen Mo glanced at the Moonlight Treasure Mirror.
Earth Escape Technique - Fragment
Another incomplete version. Could it be that this old guy doesn't even have a complete cultivation technique himself?
.....
An hour later, Chen Mo's somewhat troubled voice echoed through the mine tunnel, "The art of escape is so difficult. It will probably take several years to even get the basics down."
Do you have any protective techniques? Preferably ones that can protect the whole body and have high defense...
The Corpse Demon stared in his direction for a long time, and the temperature around the cave noticeably dropped a few degrees.
The divine sense attached to the shadow puppet could clearly feel the killing intent emanating from its depths.
"A self-defense technique?"
The Corpse Demon remained silent for over ten breaths before speaking, its tone icy cold, "I need something with high defense, something that can protect my entire body?"
"Do you think the martial arts techniques I have here came from a gust of wind?"
"No, senior, you've misunderstood..."
"You can leave now."
"Stop bothering me. Consider these two basic techniques on the left and right as a gift."
With a clang of the chains, it actually turned around, its back to the stone chamber entrance, as if it no longer wanted to pay attention to this ungrateful brat.
Chen Mo was stunned for a moment. Was this going too far?
This isn't right. It's only been two cultivation techniques, and they've already turned against each other?
As he had imagined, this corpse demon, having been imprisoned for over three hundred years, should have been eager for him to stay since someone who offered hope of saving him had finally appeared.
Why are you kicking him out now?
Unless... it's a strategic retreat.
Several thoughts raced through Chen Mo's mind, but he didn't rush to speak.
He manipulated the shadow puppet into silence for a few moments, then sighed.
"Alright then, take care, senior. I'll be going now."
The shadow puppet turned around and walked out of the mine tunnel.
One step, two steps, three steps...
"stop."
The voice of the Corpse Demon came from behind, carrying a tone of gritted teeth.
Chen Mo stopped and turned around.
The Corpse Demon had already turned around, its dark eyes fixed on the passage, its words filled with resentment.
"Mysterious Yin Cover." It squeezed out three words through gritted teeth, "Finally, I'll teach you another technique, the complete Mysterious Yin Cover."
"but......"
It raised a withered finger, with a drop of dark red liquid congealed on its fingertip, resembling blood, yet not quite.
"You have to swear an oath, and then I'll give it to you."
"swear?"
"right."
The Corpse Demon's voice became solemn, "Make a solemn oath to your inner demons: after learning the Profound Yin Shield, you must enter this stone chamber within seven days and help me break through the copper pillar."
"If you break this oath, your soul will be devoured by your inner demons, and you will never be able to be reborn."
Chen Mo's pupils contracted slightly.
The Great Vow of the Inner Demon.
He had seen this in the Zhenyi Division's teaching materials; it truly had a binding effect on cultivators.
Once an oath is made, breaking it will result in anything from minor demonic possession to the complete destruction of one's soul.
"This oath... isn't it too cruel?" he asked tentatively.
"Poison?" Corpse Demon sneered. "You've obtained two cultivation techniques from me, what's wrong with swearing an oath?"
"I'm not lying to you, I really can't learn those two moves..." Chen Mo protested, admitting that he really hadn't learned them yet.
"Then you should swear an oath even more." Its tone left no room for negotiation. "If you really can't learn it, then what's the oath but an empty promise to you? What are you afraid of?"
He was silent for a few moments, his mind racing. "Okay, I swear."
Upon hearing this, the corpse demon's eyes blazed with black light, and the corners of its mouth curled up slightly.
"But I need to see the complete incantation for the Profound Yin Shield first," Chen Mo added. "What if it's just a fragment? I can't even practice it myself, so how can I help you break the copper pillar?"
The Corpse Demon hesitated for a moment, then nodded in agreement, "I can only give you the first three levels first. You can only get the last three levels after you swear an oath."
"Alright, this time I will definitely break the copper pillar and rescue you from your predicament." Shadow Puppet patted his chest, his tone resolute.
This one is longer than the previous two, lasting over a hundred breaths.
The incantation has many details, involving various changes in the circulation of meridians, and it does sound more complete than the Mysterious Ice Dividing Light Needle and the Earth Escape Technique.
Chen Mo silently memorized the information while paying close attention to the Moon Essence Mirror.
【Mysterious Yin Cover - Remnant】
Only the first three layers remain, and they are still incomplete.
But this time he didn't show it; instead, he nodded and said, "Sounds alright."
"Not bad?" The Corpse Demon's voice carried a hint of dissatisfaction. "The Profound Yin Cover is a closely guarded secret of the Yin Corpse Sect, and you're telling me it's not bad?"
"When I said it was alright, I meant it was pretty good." Chen Mo quickly smoothed things over, "Senior, why don't you just tell us about the next three floors together, to save us the trouble."
The Corpse Demon didn't speak, but simply pushed the drop of dark red liquid from its fingertip forward.
As soon as the liquid approached the edge, runes suddenly appeared on the chains binding it, as if some mechanism had been triggered, and all the chains tightened abruptly.
The Corpse Demon groaned and leaned back. The runes on the chains seemed to come alive as they climbed up the chains to its arms, sizzling white smoke as they burned.
The drop of dark red blood essence hovered three feet from the edge of the cave, unable to move forward even an inch.
The Corpse Demon gritted its teeth, its eyes blazing with black light.
The runes on the iron chains shone even brighter, and the entire rock wall trembled.
The essence and blood trembled slightly, moved forward another half foot, and then came to a complete stop.
"With blood as the guide and your soul as the proof, bite the tip of your tongue, spit your blood onto this drop of essence, and then recite the oath."
Chen Mo looked at the dark red liquid droplet suspended in mid-air and suddenly smiled.
"If I spray blood on it,
"So you think you can use your blood to ambush my true form?"
The Corpse Demon's fingers paused slightly.
"You're overthinking it." Its tone remained unchanged. "The Great Oath of the Heart Demon requires the blood essence of both parties as a catalyst; that's the rule."
"Okay, fine." Shadow Puppet stared at the drop of liquid for a few seconds, then took two steps back. "I'll go back and think about it. I'll come back to you when it's time to swear an oath."
"..."
The temperature inside the stone chamber plummeted to freezing.
The Corpse Demon slowly withdrew its finger, and the drop of liquid hovered in mid-air for a moment before quietly disappearing.
"Are you kidding me?"
The eerie light in its eyes vanished completely, replaced by an abyss-like darkness.
"No."
Chen Mo's shadow puppet took another ten steps back before stopping. "I really need to think about it. I can't just do something as important as making a great oath to the Demonic Heart on a whim, can I?"
"I'll go back and get some sleep, think things through, and then come back. Isn't that being responsible to you?"
"Take responsibility for me?" Corpse Demon chuckled. "Who do you think you're talking to?"
"When I, Xuanmingzi, was alive, your great-grandfather hadn't even been born yet."
"I've killed more rogue cultivators than you've ever seen a living person."
"I was going to spare your life, but I didn't expect you to be like those idiots, courting death."
Before it finished speaking, something suddenly appeared in the mine tunnel.
It is a ghost.
Countless ghosts, densely packed together, seeped out from the rock wall in massive numbers, so numerous that they were impossible to count.
Some were wearing tattered clothes from three hundred years ago, while others still had fragments of Western-style clothing from the early Republic of China hanging on their bodies.
"You think I've been here for three hundred years and done nothing?"
The voice of the corpse demon came from deep within, "These ghosts are all people who died in this mining area."
"You want to go out? You'll have to ask them if they'll allow it."
The shadow puppet stood in the middle of the mine tunnel, surrounded by ghosts on all sides.
Chen Mo remained calm. "Senior, have you forgotten that I also make a living in this industry?"
......
Outside the mine, he suddenly smiled as he was about to put away the merit banner.
It was full of ghosts, at least a thousand of them.
Once you go in, you can probably collect 999 merit banners in one go.
But the problem is, there's also a corpse demon inside.
That old thing that's been locked up for three hundred years, even though it can't get out now, who knows what other tricks it has up its sleeve?
Chen Mo hesitated for three breaths before gritting his teeth.
"Fortune favors the bold; sooner or later I'll have to go in there anyway."
He tucked the merit banner into his robes and strode into the mine.
.....
Eight shadow puppets stood in the middle of the passage, surrounded by ghostly spirits, huddled together to resist their attacks.
Sensing the presence of a living person on Chen Mo, all the Yin spirits surrounding the Shadow Puppet turned around and roared as they pounced on him.
A cold wind swept through the mine shaft, the temperature plummeted, and his breath instantly turned into white mist.
Chen Mo pulled out the merit banner from his pocket and flicked it casually.
The moment the black banner unfurled, all sound in the mine tunnel vanished.
All that remained of the passage was that black banner and the black mist emanating from it.
The first ghost collided with the black mist and was swept away before it could even scream.
Then came the second one, the third one... the tenth one, the fiftieth one...
The number of ghosts in the mine tunnels is decreasing at a visible rate.
One hundred and forty-eight.
149.
One hundred and fifty...
The merit banner trembled violently, the black mist on its surface suddenly contracted, and then exploded at an even more violent speed.
The black fog changed from grayish-black to a deep, inky black, and its churning speed increased several times over.
Chen Mo could sense that the merit banner in his hand seemed to have undergone some kind of change, but he didn't have time to look at it closely.
Chen Mo could sense that the merit banner in his hand seemed to have undergone some kind of change, but he didn't have time to look at it closely.
Because more ghosts are pouring out from the depths of the mine.
One hundred and sixty.
One hundred and eighty.
two hundred.
......
The remaining ghosts in the mine tunnel seemed to realize something and stopped in their tracks.
They have no mind, only instinct, but the fear from the depths of their souls makes them instinctively want to escape.
But the black mist emanating from the merit banner was too fast, so fast that there was no chance to escape.
Three hundred and twenty heads.
.....
Four hundred and fifty heads.
The black mist, like a giant mouth, swallowed the entire mine tunnel.
The ghosts struggled in the mist, but sank deeper and deeper until they were completely submerged.
Chen Mo's hand holding the flagpole felt slightly hot.
Dark red patterns began to appear on the surface of the merit banner, spreading outwards from the banner pole like blood vessels.
The patterns were irregular and crooked, yet they carried an indescribable chill.
Just then, a sharp roar came from deep within the mine tunnel.
It stung his eardrums with pain.
"The Ghost Flag?"
For the first time, a hint of surprise appeared in the Corpse Demon's voice.
"Where did you get this ghost banner?!"
Chen Mo did not answer, but instead increased the output of his magic power.
The black mist rolled forward, leaving no trace of the ghosts in its wake.
five hundred.....
Five hundred and fifty.....
Six hundred...
The number of ghosts in the mine tunnels is decreasing.
The ghosts that had been crowding the rock face began to retreat, some even crawling into the crevices.
The Corpse Demon's voice rang out again, this time clearly tinged with genuine anger: "Stop!"
Chen Mo ignored him and continued to collect the ghosts.
"I said stop!"
As the other person spoke, the merit banner swept away dozens more souls.
"Enough!" the Corpse Demon roared, its voice so loud that the entire mine shaft trembled, and rubble fell from the rock walls.
"Do you still want to enter that underground river?"
He stopped in his tracks.
It wasn't because of the corpse demon's words, but because the ghosts in the mine tunnels suddenly disappeared.
The ghostly spirits that had been seeping out from the rock walls seemed to have received some kind of order, and they all retreated back into the depths of the mine.
The black mist of the merit banner churned in the mine tunnel for a while, but finding no new target, it began to slowly shrink.
Chen Mo stood still, the merit banner in his hand trembling slightly, the black mist rising and falling on the banner like a living thing.
Unfortunately, we're still a little over a hundred short of reaching a thousand.
His divine sense swept over the banner, and he muttered something to himself before putting the drastically changed merit banner into his bosom.
"Have you ever been to an underground river?"
Chen Mo raised his head and looked into the depths of the mine tunnel. "Tell me about it. If it's helpful, I might consider helping you break through a copper pillar."
The corpse demon deep inside the cave twitched its lips a few times.
"consider?"
"You took my cultivation techniques and captured my spirit, and now you want me to consider it?"
"However... I can make another deal with you."
Chen Mo raised an eyebrow.
"You're going down into the Dark River to find the Black Dragon Xuanming Sha in the underworld, right?"
The Corpse Demon's voice carried a hint of amusement, "I'll let you enter through the underground river entrance in this cave. In exchange, after you find the Black Dragon Xuanming Sha, bring me a crystal from the Sha Pit."
"How is it?"