I Slay Gods and Demons in the Deceit Night
Chapter 289 - 207: Meeting Li Shen Sect! Temple’s Lu Changsheng!

Chapter 289: Chapter 207: Meeting Li Shen Sect! Temple’s Lu Changsheng!

In Mr. Lu’s courtyard.

Lin Yan’s eyes narrowed slightly.

He then spoke no more and headed for Mr. Lu’s room.

Approaching the door, he saw that the room was empty, with no one in sight.

There was only a blank scroll hanging on the wall.

Seemingly because Lin Yan had pushed open the door, the wind stirred within the room.

The next moment, traces gradually emerged on the scroll.

It was as if an invisible brush was painting something.

In a breath’s time, that invisible brush had outlined a figure.

Tall and slender, with an extraordinary bearing.

His features gradually became clear, well-proportioned, appearing as a young man.

In the next instant, the man in the painting raised his eyebrows and miraculously came to life.

Suddenly, a sound!

The man in the painting stepped out!

In the blink of an eye, he was before Lin Yan.

With a finger formed like a sword, he pointed at Lin Yan’s brow.

Boom!!!

Lin Yan took a half step back, and his True Qi burst forth!

A golden glow appeared in an instant!

His Treasure Night Blade unsheathed in a flash!

A chill from the blade quickly rose!

The tip of the blade met the fingertip!

The blade’s edge and Sword Intent clashed in an instant!

A powerful aura whipped up a tempest!

"Don’t fight here, do you want to destroy my dwelling?"

Mr. Lu swept his large sleeve and commanded, "Go back!"

Under that single reprimand, the fierce winds immediately weakened.

Lin Yan involuntarily took a half step back, lowering his blade.

The man from the painting then retreated back into the scroll, becoming a painted image once more.

The atmosphere suddenly became silent.

After a moment, Lin Yan turned his head and asked, "Is that Li Shen Sect?"

"Doesn’t it look like him?"

"Much younger than I imagined."

"He was not that old to begin with, just turned forty."

"But his sworn son Zhou Kui is older than Han Commander; by that account, wouldn’t Zhou Kui be several years older than Li Shen Sect?"

"After Li Shen Sect made his name, many people sought discipleship under him. Among them, some shameless ones became even closer by recognizing him as a sworn father."

"..." Lin Yan fell silent.

"Now it seems, apart from six disciples, he has taken in thirteen sworn sons, each one older than himself."

Mr. Lu said this and then continued, "As for Zhou Kui, he was driven to High Willow City, disfavored by Li Shen Sect. Even when you beheaded him earlier, Li Shen Sect, as his sworn father, didn’t inquire at all."

Lin Yan remained silent for a while before shaking his head, looking at the image on the wall and saying, "So this is the treasure Li Shen Sect temporarily stored with you through Commander’s hands, meant to be gifted to me?"

Mr. Lu nodded and said, "Li Shen Sect said, whenever you can defeat him in the painting with a single blade strike, you’ll have earned the right to go to Qifeng Prefecture City and seek justice for Han Zheng."

Upon hearing this, Lin Yan frowned and said, "Li Shen Sect’s sword strike just now was indeed strong, but not as powerful as I had anticipated."

Mr. Lu spoke indifferently, "Wait another ten days or so, and the man in the painting’s cultivation will be fully restored."

Upon hearing this, Lin Yan was startled. His gaze sharpened as it fell on the scroll, guessing the startling possibility.

"As you suspected, it was Li Shen Sect who cut his own cultivation and sealed the cut-out cultivation here," Mr. Lu slowly stated.

"How much True Qi did you use with that blade strike just now?" he asked.

Lin Yan replied, "I had to react hastily and used over eight hundred strands of True Qi."

"Today you used eight hundred strands of True Qi, but the seed remains, naturally recovering in seven days, right?" Mr. Lu said.

"Exactly."

"However, Li Shen Sect has sealed all the seeds of his True Qi in this scroll," Mr. Lu said with detachment. "But although this scroll is not ordinary, it is still not as good as a physical body, hence it takes twenty-one days to recover."

"To extract one’s own True Qi at the root and seal it into a scroll?" Lin Yan was astounded. "Does such a magic method exist in the world?"

"This is also a new method from the Holy Land. Those on the verge of losing control in the Qi Refining Realm can choose to extract their own True Qi and sever their cultivation," Mr. Lu said with a measured tone.

"But no matter what kind of True Qi, it must be refined by oneself, deeply stored within the body, and integrated with one’s essence, energy, and spirit."

"Once cultivation has reached such a stage, inner and outer realms connect, merging into one. To uproot the alien True Qi within one’s body is a pain far more tormenting than drawing tendons, peeling skin, or breaking bones to extract marrow!"

Hearing this, Lin Yan fell into silence.

People usually describe excruciating pain with words like "bones breaking and tendons snapping," "pain down to the bone marrow," or "pain that pierces the heart."

But the actual removal of True Qi from within one’s body is most likely far more terrifying than "drawing tendons, peeling skin, or breaking bones to extract marrow" described by Mr. Lu.

Saying that such torment is worse than death is no exaggeration.

Compared to this, the disciple from the Holy Land who acted just a while ago was much more decisive and suffer far less pain.

"Li Shen Sect willingly chose to uproot his True Qi and sever his cultivation, enduring such unbearable pain—is it because the Holy Land provided him with a complete method for the Qi Refining Realm?" Lin Yan pondered.

"Looking at the world, methods for the Qi Refining Realm are all incomplete, and even the strong predecessors from the Holy Land, despite their earnest research, have not been able to achieve it," Mr. Lu replied.

"Then why did Li Shen Sect do this?" Lin Yan’s brow furrowed, quite puzzled.

"I do not know, but he is someone with great ambition, and he isn’t yet at the point of losing control," Mr. Lu said. "If he can give up his existing abilities, he must have found a much more powerful path to tread."

"Li Shen Sect is acclaimed as the most talented person in Qifeng Prefecture in the last three hundred years. I remember that he has long been regarded as the strongest in Qifeng Prefecture," Lin Yan reflected. "Is he about to completely step out of the Qi Refinement Realm to a higher path?"

"I don’t know, but at present, it seems not," Mr. Lu said. "Oh right, concerning the ancient relics, the whereabouts of seven of the nine town objects have been found."

As he spoke, Mr. Lu reached into his robe, brought out a slip of paper, and handed it over.