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nTranslated by: Hypersheep325

nEdited by: Michyrr

nUpon returning to the Carefree House, Tang Jie saw that Yiyi had already cleaned up the courtyard.

nYiyi was sitting on the ground and picking through items. When she saw Tang Jie, she excitedly said, “Big Brother, come here! Look at all these nice things!”

n“What’s there to see? I’ve already experienced them all,” Tang Jie casually said.

nWhile speaking with Zhuang Shen, Tang Jie had already looked through the contents of his Mustard Seed Bag.

nBesides the antidote pill and demonblood pill, Zhuang Shen had two bottles of spirit-restoring pills, three bottles of spirit-nurturing pills, six flying sword talismans, one Clear Heaven talisman, one Primordial Chaos talisman, and several dozen spirit coins.

nBesides that, there were the four spell weapons: the Violet Flame Sword, the Godhead Armor, the Immortal-Binding Rope, and the refined beast token. The Mustard Seed Bag was an auxiliary art relic that could hold five cubic meters, putting it at a value of at least six spirit jades. This alone meant that Tang Jie had made a generous profit. Sure enough, murder was the quick path to riches, though it was a very risky one.

nBesides that, there was one more auxiliary art relic, the formation diagram. In truth, this was the most valuable of all of Zhuang Shen’s property.

nA formation recreation diagram!

nThis was a formation diagram that could store a formation, not a formation diagram specifically meant for isolating Tang Jie.

nThe biggest problem with formations was that they needed to be laid down. One needed to either lay them down before the battle or be like Yiyi and possess a talent. It was impossible to lay them down during a battle.

nThis formation recreation diagram had an internal space that allowed the storage of materials, but it only allowed putting in, not taking it out. The materials placed within could create a formation through the formation diagram at a much faster speed than normal. It could be used to prepare a formation beforehand or to lay down a formation on the spot.

nThe sole drawback was that the formation released, regardless of the type, would be much smaller, but the materials required remained the same. Thus, while it was good for emergency use, it wasn’t proper for normal circumstances.

nEven so, it was a very practical treasure. After all, it was one of the art relics that Spirit Disciples could use.

nThe formation recreation diagram wasn’t of a very high rank—it could only store formations of Rank 2 or below, and only a single formation, not overlapping formations. Fortunately, Tang Jie’s level was only at Rank 2. Further up, he wouldn’t be able to lay down the formations even if you gave him the materials, so he was in no rush.

nYiyi was delighted to hear this.

nShe had been dividing the treasures into a pile to her left, a pile to her right, and a pile in her hands, even muttering to herself, “This is yours… This is mine… This is… also mine…”

nHearing Tang Jie say this, she decided to put everything in her own pile. But she was too small to grab everything, and after tottering a few times, she ended up falling into a pile of talisman paper.

nTang Jie couldn’t help but laugh. “How can you be so young yet already so in love with treasure?”

nThe little lass frowned and snorted, “I don’t care! This is all mine!”

n“That’s no good,” Tang Jie said as he walked over. “This is all stolen property, so we can’t use it for now.”

n“Don’t care, don’t care, don’t care!” Yiyi hollered.

nTang Jie picked her out of the pile of treasure and put her in his bosom. “Yiyi, be a good girl and wait for Big Brother to change it all into money. Then Yiyi can spend every day counting money at home. How about that?”

nYiyi looked around, and then she pointed at Tang Jie’s nose and shouted, “You had better keep your word!”

nTang Jie pulled on her finger and smiled. “With this finger pull, I swear to keep this promise for a hundred years!”

nYiyi found this very funny, and wildly pulled on his finger and shouted, “Great! Great! Keep this promise for a hundred years!”

nSuddenly, she thought of something and jumped out of Tang Jie’s bosom. She raised an item and asked, “What about this?”

nThis was clearly the Ninedark Profound Martial Mirror.

nTang Jie was scared out of his wits, and quickly snatched the mirror. “Absolutely not this one.”

nThe moment he touched the mirror, he felt a strange sensation from it.

nIt was the same sort of feeling he had gotten while Soulscouring Zhuang Shen.

n“This is…” Tang Jie cried out in alarm.

nA flood of information rushed into his mind, and Tang Jie was dazzled by countless images flitting past his eyes.

nHe saw a vast and desolate void, a giant more than one hundred thousand feet tall wiedling an enormous axe and roaring, his cries shaking the earth and resounding through the heavens.

nHe was surrounded by countless Immortals who were attacking him with various weapons, their various multicolored lights issuing forth and illuminating the entire world.

nAbove the giant was a grandiose palace complex, the jade buildings and rainbow clouds exuding a hallowed aura.

nFour figures radiating golden light like four suns circled constantly around the palace, occasionally unleashing beams of light down below.

nIn the face of these ceaseless attacks, the giant raised his head and shouted a single word.

n“Weapon (兵)!”

n(TN: The word “兵” has variety of military-related meanings. It can mean “weapon”, “soldier”, or “warlike”.)

nTang Jie saw the weapons of the countless Immortals instantly shatter, becoming glistening stars that flew toward the giant, attaching to his axe and making it larger.

nThe giant swung his axe at the celestial palace overhead. A part of this divine palace was instantly turned into countless shards. “Ah!” Tang Jie threw down the Martial Mirror and backed away, panting for breath.

n“Big Brother, Big Brother, what’s wrong?” Yiyi rushed over.

n“I’m fine.” Tang Jie shook his head and focused.

nThe scene from just now had already deeply embedded itself in Tang Jie’s mind, leaving an indelible mark.

nXu Muyang was right. The Martial Mirror really was hiding another secret, but it seemed like unlocking it would require meeting some special conditions.

nTang Jie didn’t know what sort of conditions he had met to unlock this secret, but the greatest possibility was that it was linked somehow to experiencing a Soulscour. After all, the information transfer was very much like the Soulscour spell. But the contents seemed more like a trace of Divine Will left by the Martial Lord.

nDivine Will was the manifestation of the soul, so it was normal for it to come up after a Soulscour. What was far more miraculous was that this Divine Will had remained on the Martial Mirror for more than ten thousand years.

nBut Tang Jie felt that this alone wasn’t enough. After all, all he had done was use the Soulscour spell. Even if some traces of the spell still remained in his body, there was no reason for the Martial Mirror to unlock on its own. Tang Jie guessed that the Visceral Manifestation Classic had also played an important role.

nThe Visceral Manifestation Classic determined the person while the Soulscour determined the method. The correct person paired with the correct method was what truly unlocked the secret of the Martial Mirror. It was no wonder Xu Muyang had only found the mirror strange and had never been able to unlock its secrets.

nIf he followed this line of thought, did it mean that the Nine Executions Immortal Formation also required a specific person to gain entry?

nIf that was the case… Tang Jie’s gaze paused on the Martial Mirror.

nHe walked forward and grabbed the Martial Mirror. As light flowed across its surface, he was able to see countless words.

nBut when he looked carefully, Tang Jie realized that these words weren’t on the Martial Mirror. Rather, they existed in his mind.

nBut in normal circumstances, he couldn’t think about them at all. He could only see them through the Martial Mirror. It was like the Martial Mirror was reflecting the memories stored in his mind.

nIf someone else looked at the Martial Mirror, they would just see the patterned grooves. Only Tang Jie could see the words reflected upon it.

nIt wasn’t just words, There were also countless illusory figures jumping around and performing movements.

nHe didn’t recognize a single one of these characters, but he could inexplicably understand what they meant.

nHe raised his head to see two large golden words written in a solemn, simple, and imposing style.

nTang Jie blurted, “Parting Classic!”

nThe Parting Classic!

nTo be more precise, this was the true secret technique left by the Martial Lord, the most important mantra he had developed in his lifetime.

nIt was completely different from the current orthodox school.

nCultivation currently emphasized separating the human and the spirit. Spiritual energy was a weapon for cultivators, but a weapon was a weapon while a human was a human. The two could not be mixed. Even though one could refine the body after reaching the Mortal Shedding Realm, the effects would be limited.

nIn this aspect, the vast majority of the cultivators of this world could be called magicians.

nBut the Parting Classic cultivated blood energy.

nThose who cultivated blood energy fused the spirit into the body to strengthen it, viewing the body as the universe that could contain the world. It was precisely because of his powerful blood energy, tough bones, and steely constitution that the Martial Lord was able to dominate the world. The most domineering of all was his fleshly body, and it was his blood energy that made him the most powerful and domineering existence of High Antiquity.

nLater on, people who saw its effects called it “body cultivation”, but if one looked at its fundamentals, it was better to call it “blood cultivation”.

nThis was why the Parting Classic was actually much simpler than the Lesser Sea Grotto Metal Mantra. It was not divided by levels, and simply required constant circulation of the same mantra.

nBut it required a frightening amount of medicines to cultivate this mantra.

nAccording to the Parting Classic, before cultivation, he would have to gather a large number of herbs for a medicinal bath. While boiling in this bath and circulating the mantra, one could absorb all the medicinal effects for the most ideal effect.

nThere were herbs like the Nineheaven Luan Grass, Ten Thousand Year Fire Essence, Dragonslug Phoenix Blood, Hundred-Refined Fiend Pills… Tang Jie almost fainted from all these ingredients.

nThese were all earthly treasures. Any one of them would have the six major sects at each other’s throats. Where was he going to get them? And there was even a note: “The more the better, never ending!”

nMy ass!

nIn this aspect, the Martial Lord’s Immortal art was extremely valuable and also extremely worthless.

nThis was because it required far too much, more than any normal person could possibly satisfy.

nIf he were really able to gather all these treasures, he might dominate the world even if he went and cultivated some other mantra.

nThis mantra was far less valuable than he had expected, and Tang Jie couldn’t help but be disappointed.

nForget it, forget it.

nWhy should I take a different path?

nSince I have the Martial Lord’s mantra, I might as well take the path he laid down.

nAt least it gives me a direction in life.

nIt wasn’t like he absolutely needed all those herbs.

nThere was another note in the Parting Classic saying that if it really was no good, he could find herbs with similar functions to serve as replacements. If he couldn’t find ten-thousand-year essence, he could get one-thousand-year essence, and perhaps even essence that was only several hundred years old.

nThere was even a list that described various herbs together with their traits and functions.

nTang Jie went straight to the bottom of the list, which was five-hundred-year Violet Wolfiporia. Tang Jie made some calculations and determined that he couldn’t buy it. With all his assets, he could buy a fifty-year one, and if he wanted the whole set, he could only buy a five-year one.

nFive years is five years. It’s still better than nothing.

nWithout my eating anything, the Visceral Manifestation Classic still got me steely skin and bones, Tang Jie remarked to himself.

nBut he then recalled that despite cultivating the Visceral Manifestation Classic for three years, he could barely block a low-rank spell and was evaluated as having a rather sturdy constitution. Thus did Tang Jie’s attempt at self-consolation fail.

nFortunately, besides the Parting Classic, there was an art.

nThe Weapon Mantra!

n(TN: The actual name is the “兵 Character Mantra”)

nThis was the shout the Martial Lord had made that shattered all weapons, the art that grasped the origin of the Martial Dao!

nThis Weapon Mantra claimed that once it was cultivated, one would be able to shatter all weapons in the world, extract their essences, and refine them into a divine weapon.

nIn the Martial Mirror, Tang Jie had seen the Martial Lord shout “Weapon”, which was the ultimate manifestation of the Weapon Mantra. With a single command, all weapons shattered!

nCompared to that mantra which required a sea of resources to cultivate, the Weapon Mantra had a much lower threshold. One simply needed to refine one’s body to a certain level and then unleash one’s blood energy according to the mantra to manifest the art.

nTang Jie circulated his blood energy according to the instructions of the art, but he felt all his blood energy seethe unpleasantly.

nTang Jie gritted his teeth and persevered. Gradually, the blood energy calmed down. A bloody light appeared on Tang Jie’s body. The light flowed around and gradually congregated on the tip of Tang Jie’s right index finger.

nThis is the blood power gathered by the Weapon Mantra? I can use it to shatter all weapons in the world?

nTang Jie didn’t quite believe it.

nYiyi was still hugging the Violet Flame Sword while staring at him.

nTang Jie pointed his finger at it, wanting to see how powerful it really was.

nConsidering that this was his first try, there was no way he could destroy a spell weapon. But to his surprise, with his one finger, the Violet Flame Sword let out a soft cling.

nA light burst out of the sword, and then, boom! The sword erupted into shards.

n“How could this be?” Tang Jie was dumbfounded.

nHow could a light thrust from his finger be this powerful?

nAlthough he had already seen the supreme power of the Weapon Mantra, Tang Jie had never imagined that he could imitate the Martial Lord and destroy a weapon with a single thought.

nAlthough this spell weapon wasn’t some big treasure, it wasn’t something that should have broken apart just because he impulsively thrust at it with his finger, right?

nYiyi was dumbfounded.

nBut her reaction was different from Tang Jie’s.

nShe looked at the bits of sword scattered around the air, then her lips pouted and she plopped on her butt and began to cry, “My treasure…”

n“Yiyi, I’m sorry.” Tang Jie was just about to comfort her when he suddenly felt sweetness in his mouth, and then blood erupted from his mouth. His body went limp, and he dropped to the ground.

nOnly now did he realize that he didn’t have the strength to move.

nCountless dazzling stars were dancing in front of his eyes.

nThis was an illusion produced by severe weakness.

n“Stimulating all my blood energy… **!” Tang Jie muttered, and then his eyes rolled over as he fainted.

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