Chapter 19 Shortcut (Please Favorite)
Inside the military camp.
Zhong Shenxiu looked at the Heavenly Show System and pondered slightly, "The Heavenly Show Points have filled up a bit again, it seems that last time it was kind of a minor upgrade..."
With a thought, rows of data appeared:
[Would you like to spend 1 Heavenly Show Point to upgrade the Profound Yin Soul Fragment?]
"Yes!"
[Profound Yin Soul Fragment upgraded!]
[Profound Yin Soul Fragment: Second Layer]
...
This time, he was well-prepared and withstood the changes brought about by the upgrade of the Profound Yin Soul Fragment.
Even the restless spirits within him were suppressed.
Although he was confident that he could summon this vengeful spirit, trying to control it wouldn't be as easy, almost no different from losing control.
With a shift in his mind, some hidden memories from the village surfaced.
"As expected... Tian Bufen was under an unlucky star, it was unintentionally slaughtered by me. This spirit can't be let out; once released, it becomes uncontrollable, and during its rampage, my memories are also somewhat chaotic..."
Losing control like this was something he detested the most.
This time, his Daoist skills had improved a level, stopping the vengeful spirit from taking the opportunity to cause trouble.
Even better, he had gained many memory fragments.
...
At this moment, Zhong Shenxiu closed his eyes and then reopened them to find himself sitting in front of an ancient, long table, upon which was a sheepskin scroll.
"If the Felix Family wishes to endure, some essential preparations must be made... Hide part of the noble bloodline... Apart from that, leave a few treasures behind..."
'He' picked up the goose feather quill beside him and began to concentrate on drawing a map on the sheepskin scroll.
All of a sudden.
The face of the legendary Earl twitched.
His body trembled, looking around at the darkness.
The books on the shelves seemed to come alive, struggling, emitting various hoarse noises.
In the darkness, a fine sound traveled as if small insects were wriggling and crawling.
Then, one by one, eyes opened.
Some were cold and merciless, while others were filled with madness.
From outside the window, unknowingly, a patch of crimson light poured in.
"My lord..."
The Earl suddenly kneeled down, "I am guilty, I confess..."
His lips murmured a language not of humans, confessing his inner struggle and the fear of his nation's doom.
"The great gate of myriad doors..."
Boom!
As soon as Zhong Shenxiu 'understood' the first line of the prayer, he awoke with a start, his forehead covered in cold sweat: "It's happening again, that feeling that if I continue, a great disaster will certainly befall me..."
His body was almost paralyzed and he had to meditate for a long time before he regained some ability to move.
His thoughts were as if frozen.
It was only after the time it takes half an incense stick to burn that he was able to start thinking gradually.
As for the 'gate of myriad doors', he buried it deeply in his heart, not daring to contemplate it further.
"That legendary Earl seemed to have had a premonition of something, he made certain preparations for the destruction of the nation."
"Even... perhaps he himself was part of those preparations."
Zhong Shenxiu placed his hand on his chest.
While legends live, after death, they may not retain their legendary power.
But even retaining just a portion would be enough to turn the Fufeng Protectorate upside down with its power.
Not to mention, that Earl had prepared other means.
Such as... some kind of special sacrificial ritual.
Ordinary prayers, calls for help... such grand beings might not respond.
However, once the bloodline of certain individuals was involved, complemented by a special ceremony, the chances of that being's attention would greatly increase.
Such a ritual was extremely dangerous, but it was certain to gain something from it.
This was also the capital for the rise of the descendants of the Earl!
"Those treasure locations, I wonder if they have been excavated by someone; otherwise, if I dug them up, that would be a huge fortune..."
Zhong Shenxiu quietly memorized several locations in his heart.
He looked out at the dual moons in the sky and, after pondering for a long time, still entered meditation to cultivate.
In the struggle for survival, everything else was illusory.
"The second layer of the Profound Yin Soul's incomplete chapter still couldn't contend with that resentful spirit... But compared to the first layer, there has been some progress..."
Zhong Shenxiu felt that although at this moment if he released that resentful spirit, he would inevitably lose control, lose memory, and create terror.
Yet, using the power of the resentful spirit inside him a little bit was still possible.
And that resentful spirit had been a fifth-order legend from the West in life!
Although the power systems of the East and West were different, western legendary figures generally corresponded to the Primordial Pill Stage of the eastern cultivation system!
Of course, a legendary figure who had died might not still possess legendary power.
"But even if just one notch lower, it would still be the strength of a Third-rank Gang Sha or even a Fourth-Order Divine Power!"
"Right now, I'm just at the Innate level, which would be roughly equivalent to a Second-order Whiteboard Warrior in the western system?"
Zhong Shenxiu's thoughts stirred.
He looked at himself, and suddenly, darkness emerged in front of his eyes.
In the darkness, a silhouette appeared, dressed in exquisite formal wear, with two rows of golden buttons running down, resembling a Western high-society figure attending a banquet, except... headless!
The Headless Earl!
In reality, Zhong Shenxiu's skin became slightly pale, losing its color, and his entire body seemed to lose its vitality, turning into a corpse.
If he continued like this, he would release the resentful spirit and begin killing indiscriminately.
Of course, this followed a certain pattern.
Generally, although uncontrollable, because it was underlined by Zhong Shenxiu's subconsciousness, those with the highest grudges against him would be the first to suffer.
"This is also a move to fall back on; the day I am pushed to a dead end, I will release it!"
"But for now, I can't continue!"
Zhong Shenxiu forcefully stopped this transformation and switched to cultivating the Spirit Turtle Breathing Skill.
When he entered meditation and looked inward, he could see a Spirit Turtle Breathing Map, centering on his Dantian and expanding outwards in all directions.
Within that map, bright points emerged, as if corresponding to the various acupoints on his body.
These were the thirty-six gateways that the Spirit Turtle Breathing Skill needed to break through, each breakthrough making the True Qi denser, and reaching thirty would mean Innate Great Success.
Originally, with his shallow cultivation of the Spirit Turtle True Qi, breaking through even one or two acupoints was a struggle.
But at that moment, Zhong Shenxiu summoned the power of the resentful spirit, felt a chill in his Dantian, and the Spirit Turtle True Qi, carried by the eerie power, broke through ten acupoints in one breath!
Such a breakthrough method was too cruel and violent; he immediately felt a tearing pain in his meridians.
But in the blink of an eye, because his body had already transformed into the cold corpse of a zombie, his meridians became rigid and resilient, and he survived.
...
Dawn broke.
Zhong Shenxiu leaped up and struck out with one palm.
In his palm, a trail of white gas appeared, striking out three feet into the air before slowly dissipating.
"Innate True Qi, extending three feet from the body, have I achieved Innate Great Success overnight?"