Yu Suzhen sighed, then stood up from the body of the young man whose primal energy she had just plundered, who was now no longer breathing.
"Hehe... I've finally succeeded!"
Feeling the True Qi flowing within her, Yu Suzhen almost cried out loud. After experiencing countless hardships in the Joyful Union Hall, she had finally broken through to the first level of the Qi Refining Realm today. After a brief loss of emotional control, Yu Suzhen regained her composure.
Her features relaxed, and her originally charming face suddenly turned cold and aloof. A determined light shone from her beautiful eyes. It is said that youth is fleeting and beauty fades, but she never wanted to see the day she grew old.
"I want to cultivate, I want long life."
At this moment, the desire to cultivate in Yu Suzhen's heart was stronger than ever before. She was determined to reach the very top of the Primordial Saint Sect, step by step. What she did not realize was that there was a second person in the cave residence.
Right beside the young man she had just drained dry, an illusory figure, difficult for the mortal eye to see, stood with his hands behind his back, watching her with great interest.
"Stealing Heaven's Secrets, the first step is complete."
"Senior Sister Yu is quite good. The will to cultivate was already in her heart, so I didn't even need to deliberately provoke it. Everything came from her own true heart."
This was for the best. After all, Lu Yang was not yet at Foundation Establishment, far from being as seamless as a Foundation Establishment Daoist Master. Deliberately influencing another's thoughts could easily reveal flaws.
Then, Lu Yang examined himself. His physical body was now dead, having entered the 'transformation after death' state of the Supreme Yin Corpse-Shedding Form Transformation True Art. His soul, however, had been preserved using the Yin Ghost Immortal Art he had deduced in his previous life, transforming into a yin soul to maintain his life force.
"Transformation after death, so this is what it meant."
Lu Yang thought to himself. At this very moment, his physical body seemed to have become a pill furnace, and the three superior divine abilities he had mastered in life had become the medicinal ingredients inside it. The body is the furnace, the divine abilities are the medicine, and creation is the work.
The result would be to smelt the three superior divine abilities, transforming them into the status of a Corpse-Shedding Immortal. Only then would the Supreme Yin Corpse-Shedding Form Transformation True Art be considered successfully cultivated.
"This process will probably be very long."
"And it's not something that can be refined just by spending time. The body is the furnace, but the fire for refining the pill uses my merit and fortune as firewood."
Burning his merit and fortune, transforming it into a pill fire that he would then feed into his physical body, was in itself an act of seeking life from death. If he failed to refine the status of a Corpse-Shedding Immortal before his merit and fortune were completely burned away, then he would be truly dead.
Worse, because his fortune and merit would be exhausted, he would not even be able to be reborn as a human in his next life and could only enter the path of beasts.
"No wonder I've never heard of anyone else in the Saint Sect cultivating this Great Divine Ability."
The rewards and the risks were completely disproportionate. One could only imagine the determination of the cultivator who created this Great Divine Ability. It was like staking everything on a single lifetime, leaving himself no room for retreat.
This was immortal cultivation. Walking the Great Dao alone, with advance but no retreat, one had to stake everything to gamble on a single chance. If one won, all was well, but if one lost, what kind of despair would that be?
At this thought, Lu Yang couldn't help but feel moved, and tears streamed down his face. It was only when he saw the panel of the Book of a Hundred Lives beside him that he snapped out of it, slapping his head.
"I almost forgot, I can just restart. Never mind then."
"When the soul loses the protection of the body, it's difficult to guard one's mind. I got too emotional..."
Lu Yang quickly collected his thoughts and turned to look at Yu Suzhen. Although Yu Suzhen looked no different on the surface, inwardly, she was no longer herself. She had been tainted by Lu Yang's colors.
The Stealing Heaven's Secrets art had directly turned her into a puppet. From now on, no matter what level Yu Suzhen cultivated to, Lu Yang could instantly drain her cultivation level and fortune with a single thought, then use it to nourish himself.
"But there's no rush."
"Next, I need to think of a way to reasonably pass the Stealing Heaven's Secrets art to her, then have her plunder the cultivation of others. I'll fatten her up, and then it's time for the slaughter."
Thinking of this, Lu Yang's gaze shifted to Liu Xin, who was waiting outside the cave residence. Saint Sect, Joyful Union Hall. Yu Suzhen followed behind Liu Xin, her steps as graceful as a lotus flower, her figure slender and utterly charming.
Yet, her face held a coldness that kept people a thousand miles away. This strong contrast embodied in one person, combined with Yu Suzhen's already exquisite features, immediately drew the gazes of many disciples. Even Liu Xin could not help but glance at her, a hint of wicked fire deep in his eyes, but he quickly suppressed it.
Business first.
"Junior Sister Yu, this is the cultivation technique for the Formal Disciples of our Saint Sect, the Innate Dao Scripture. Take it back and study it well. Do not slack off in your cultivation."
"Thank you, Senior Brother."
Yu Suzhen curtsied. From Liu Xin's perspective, he had a perfect view down at a large expanse of snow-white skin, and a faint, clear fragrance wafted to his nose. Liu Xin swallowed hard.
He suddenly reached out, pulling the beauty into his arms in an instant. Her cold face showed a perfectly timed hint of panic, and her cry was clear and pleasant to the ear.
"Ah! Senior Brother, what are you doing? Quick, let go..."
As she spoke, Yu Suzhen started to push against Liu Xin. However, her small, jade-white hands pressed against Liu Xin's chest. Far from forceful, they were so soft it felt as if she were giving him a massage.
Seeing this, the wicked fire in Liu Xin burned even hotter, and he could not help but let out a sinister laugh.
"Junior Sister, you misunderstand. We are merely discussing the Dao."
With that thought, Liu Xin ignored Yu Suzhen's 'resistance,' picked her up, and walked straight into his cave residence. One day later. The languor after they finished completely numbed Liu Xin's mind, causing him to let down all his guards.
By the time he came to his senses, he found his body lying limply on the bed, unable to muster even a speck of his True Qi! Then, he saw Yu Suzhen leisurely rise to her feet. It was only then that Liu Xin noticed he was giving off a rotten smell.
His expression instantly turned ghastly, and he stared at Yu Suzhen in shock and rage.
"You poisoned me!?"
"What else?"
Yu Suzhen's face was devoid of expression, as if her earlier allure had been an illusion.
"You were trying to harm me, am I not allowed to fight back?"
"How is that possible? You bitch! How did you find out!?"
Liu Xin clenched his steel teeth, desperately trying to circulate his True Qi to suppress the poison, but it was futile. He could only watch helplessly as his body grew weaker and weaker. Seeing this, Yu Suzhen sneered.
"Of course I didn't know at first. I just thought something was suspicious. After all, I was promoted from the Joyful Union Hall. Logically, I should have been given a dual cultivation technique, but instead, you gave me this baffling Innate Dao Scripture. Clearly, your intentions were not good."
Liu Xin's face was full of disbelief.
"Just for that, you're going to kill me?"
"And why not?"
Yu Suzhen smiled, baring her teeth.
"A woman's intuition is very sharp. Besides, even if I were wrong, what would I have lost?"
Hearing this, Liu Xin was overcome with anger.
"You..."
"Rest assured, I won't kill you so quickly," Yu Suzhen continued.
"You are in the middle stage of the Qi Refining Realm. I imagine you know quite a few powerful divine abilities and cultivation techniques."
"These are all precious resources that cannot be wasted."
"After I return from learning a real cultivation technique, I will drain you dry. That way, your life's work won't go to waste after you die."
"... Pfft!"
Before her voice had even faded, Liu Xin, who was already overcome with rage, could no longer bear it. He spat out a mouthful of hot blood on the spot, then his vision went black and he fainted.
(End of this chapter)