Chapter 311: Chapter 309: Endless Sea of Blood (Seeking Monthly Tickets)_1
The Daoists hadn’t realized that Fang Xi had actually followed Yu Hua through the gates, and entered the city with an air of nonchalance.
After entering the city, Yu Hua headed to a slum and squeezed into his own dilapidated shack.
The place was a dense thicket of shanty huts; who knew how many people lived among them.
The night was deep.
Yu Hua stared unwaveringly at the medicine furnace before him, continually adding some haphazard other herbs.
Once the medicine furnace had cooled, he looked at a semi-solidified, blood-red medicine within, a sickly glee emerging on his face, "The color, the smell, all correct... The secret medicine is a success!"
Yu Hua took a deep breath and glanced around the perimeter.
It was deep in the night when ordinary folk dare not venture out.
He found a piece of torn cloth and kept wiping a small dagger.
Waiting for the medicine to cool slightly, Yu Hua swallowed it in haste, silently reciting the incantation for ’Skin Peeling Skills’ in his heart, biting on the torn cloth, he picked up the dagger...
...
"He really is a ruthless man!"
With a sweep of his divine thoughts, Fang Xi had already vividly realized most of what was happening in the little town.
Aside from ’Skinless View,’ located squarely in the center of the town, where he feared the presence of Master, everything else was laid bare.
A smile crept over his face as he walked onto the bustling street, a place that was still lively and noisy.
"Sir... come and have fun!"
In a place lit with red lanterns and green wine, a large number of women, dressed in gauzy fabrics, were throwing perfumed sachets and handkerchiefs to the passersby...
From within the red lacquered building, sounds of laughter and merrymaking spilled out frequently.
Fang Xi arrived at the entrance, looking at the brothel, "Mysterious Tower... what an interesting name!"
"Oh... what a handsome young master!"
A voluptuous woman, with a beauty mark at the corner of her mouth, clad only in a tube top, walked out. Upon seeing Fang Xi, her eyes lit up, "My name is Yingying... Is this the young master’s first visit?"
"Indeed!"
Fang Xi boldly wrapped his arm around her waist, feeling her soft and resilient skin.
"Tsk tsk... Although it’s the young master’s first visit here, surely it isn’t your first to such places, right?"
Yingying playfully chastised, grasping Fang Xi’s mischievous hand.
"Haha... there’s no need for past acquaintances, let’s go."
Arm in arm with the woman, Fang Xi swaggered into the Mysterious Tower. Sure enough, he saw scenes of decadence all around and many novel sights that indeed had a mysterious charm.
"Young master... how would you like to play tonight?"
Yingying leaned close to Fang Xi’s ear and whispered softly.
"I want... to go play over there!"
Fang Xi pointed to a spot behind the Mysterious Tower.
Upon seeing this, Yingying’s expression suddenly changed, forcing a smile she said, "Young master... that place is for simpletons without money. With your handsome appearance, even for no charge, many sisters would be willing to accompany you. Why degrade yourself?"
"No need, I like freebies!"
Fang Xi laughed heartily, heading towards the backyard of the Mysterious Tower.
Outside, he had seen many ragged individuals wandering around the backyard of the building, their faces a mix of terror and anticipation.
And occasionally someone was chosen, entered the backyard, and then was carried out as a corpse!
But the faces of the corpses mostly bore satisfied smiles.
With a sweep of his divine consciousness, he naturally discovered that everyone in the backyard was a cultivator with cultivation, albeit mostly with meager Qi Refining Stage, with only one seeming to be at Foundation Establishment.
’It looks like they all practice the Charming Women technique... all Bodhisattvas...’
’Just in time, I haven’t tried a strong physique like this one.’
Fang Xi pushed aside the bead curtain and walked into the backyard of the Mysterious Tower.
Yingying, to her dismay, didn’t dare follow, and could only curse the stubborn ghost under her breath before returning to entertain other guests.
"Oh? Sisters, we have another guest."
A scantily clad woman sat confidently, sipping tea. Upon seeing Fang Xi, she let out a flirtatious laugh.
Truth be told, this woman, in both appearance and figure, was far inferior to Yingying, but for some reason, her every gesture and smile exuded an indescribable charm that captivated the soul.
"You won’t do... nor will they!"
Fang Xi watched the woman approach and raised a finger, gently shaking it while wearing a teasing smile.
"Hehe... where exactly am I not up to par?"
The woman cultivator inwardly sneered while her smile grew warmer, with a sultry look she regarded him with eyes like pools, seemingly ready to drown a man’s soul. She clearly employed some kind of Charming Skills.
But in the next moment, her face turned pale and she staggered back three steps, violently spitting out a small amount of essence blood.
"Sisters, he’s a Taoist!"
One of the shorter women upon seeing this immediately screamed.
"Which among you Taoists has come here to cause trouble?"
A woman with an expression cold as ice walked out, her aura on par with a Qi Refining Stage perfection.
"You won’t succeed either... Even if you all attack together, you’ll still be killed by me!"
Fang Xi laughed heartily, his Divine Consciousness sweeping through the area, soon locating the only female cultivator at the Foundation Establishment stage, and transmitted a message to her using Divine Consciousness Transmission.
The woman with an icy countenance, hands as delicate as jade, her fingernails painted a vibrant green, was about to make a move when a lazy voice drifted down from upstairs, "Han Yu, wait a moment... Please invite this young master upstairs; I shall attend to him personally!"
Han Yu’s expression changed, she immediately lowered her gaze submissively, her demeanor turning respectful, "This young master... please come upstairs!"
"Hmm!"
Fang Xi ascended to the second floor and entered a private compartment.
Inside the compartment, a censer was lit, and in front of it stood a white jade screen, embroidered all over with vividly lifelike erotic images.
A female cultivator draped only in a thin veil was sitting cross-legged on a cushion behind the screen. Upon seeing Fang Xi’s arrival, she opened her eyes, "Which ’Sir’ has come to play such a joke with Lan Gu?"
"Sir? You think you qualify?"
Fang Xi snorted coldly, taking a step forward as his Core Formation aura burst forth explosively, yet contained within the room.
Lan Gu’s face turned pale, and she immediately prostrated on the ground in deep respect, "My greetings to the Master! I did not know the Master was visiting, may I ask your honored business? Lan Gu and the ’Profound Yin Temple’ will spare no effort to fulfill your wishes..."
’Not bad, quite flexible, and knows how to cling to a powerful ally, even though I have absolutely no idea what the Profound Yin Temple is...’
Sitting confidently in a chair, Fang Xi casually asked, "This place appears to be under the jurisdiction of the Skinless Temple; what business does Profound Yin Temple have here?"
"We... Our Profound Yin Temple has established bases in several nearby cities, all for the purpose of gathering materials for Human Medicine..."
Lan Gu hesitated in her reply.
Fang Xi suddenly thought of the men who had been carried out after being drained of their essence and he was speechless.
Such actions, even if only perpetrated against mortals, would be deemed absolutely demonic in the Southern Wilderness and would lead to being hunted down by cultivators of the Righteous Path.
In this Red Sun World, however, it seemed to be taken for granted.
’Indeed, in times of chaos, human life is as cheap as grass...’
He lamented inwardly for a moment before hearing Lan Gu continue, "However, all other bases are overseen by Prime Taoists, but I am specifically in charge of this location for a reason... all because of the impending death of the old Temple Master of Skinless Temple. As soon as he dies... many fellow practitioners will come to covet the great pill he leaves behind..."
"Great pill? What great pill?"
Fang Xi asked curiously, only to see Lan Gu’s body tremble slightly, which made him snort coldly.
The overwhelming magic power of his Golden Core immediately brought Lan Gu to her knees. "Master Yushi, please spare my life... The so-called great pill... isn’t it the Golden Cores left behind by our predecessors?"
"Cultivator... Golden Core?"
Now Fang Xi was genuinely astonished.
According to his knowledge, once a cultivator in the Southern Wilderness Cultivation Realm at the Core Formation stage died, whether through Sitting and Transforming or falling in battle, their Golden Core would crumble away.
Unless, before the cultivator’s death, they used rare demonic methods like ’Pill-Stealing Skills’ to preserve and make use of the Golden Core.
How was it that here, the Golden Cores of deceased cultivators could still remain?
’Could it be... this is the profound mystery of a cultivation path Golden Core’s divine skill?’
Fang Xi pondered inwardly while Lan Gu below was wondering why such a Master Yushi was unaware of this common knowledge.
Could he be... a fake?!
Just as Lan Gu was about to probe further, Fang Xi’s hand had already pressed down.
"Please spare my life, ancestor..."
Lan Gu’s form turned illusory, slipping through Fang Xi’s grasp.
Not far off, a figure flickered, and astonishingly, it split into two, each dashing in separate directions.
"Humph!"
Fang Xi snorted coldly, and unknown to anyone, a layer of colorful Prohibition had been placed on the walls and windows, causing both fleeing figures to rebound back.
He reached out and shattered the two black blades that appeared out of thin air, then grabbed the throats of the two figures.
"This..."
Upon closer examination, Fang Xi was surprised once again.
The pair, a man and a woman, with the woman being Lan Gu and the man possessing a gentle visage similar to hers.
He paused, not hesitating to search the souls of both figures...
A moment later.
Fang Xi wore an odd expression as his hands burned with corpse fire, turning the two into ash.
These two were actually one; both were Lan Gu.
She had practiced ’Yin and Yang Skills’ from Profound Yin Temple, a bizarre art that required fraternal twins to practice, with one completely absorbing the other to achieve a body of yin and yang dual presence.
’The techniques of this realm are indeed bizarre and unorthodox...’
Fang Xi murmured to himself, recalling the information he had gleaned from the soul search.
What Lan Gu said was mostly true; she was indeed here for the ’Boundless Blood Sea Pill’ that would be left behind by the old Temple Master of Skinless Temple upon his death!
Indeed, the Golden Core that manifested when a practitioner of Skinless Temple Skills reached their apex was called ’Boundless Blood Sea Pill’!
It meant that to form this pill, one must create boundless slaughter and an expanse of a sea of blood!
"After a Golden Core cultivator on the cultivation path sits down to transform, their Golden Core can truly remain and is called a ’great pill’, which is an extremely precious cultivation resource... beneficial for others to form their own pill!"
"Hence, as the old Temple Master’s time to sit down and transform nears, even more Taoists in the vicinity of Skinless Temple will converge, all vying for this precious medicine..."
"Even... Prime Taoists can compete with each other, Taoists with Taoists, even Taoists with Prime Taoists... each can consume the others to supplement their Taoist Foundation, thus rapidly advancing their magic power?"
Fang Xi reflected on the memories he had gained, surprised, "Why does this feel so much like ’Stealing Immortal Foundation’ and ’Pill-Stealing Skills’? Could it be that the Yanmo Taoist Master of years past, who was also a figure from the Demon Sect, intentionally passed down these techniques just to facilitate the mutual theft of each other’s foundations?"