Chapter 86: Breakthrough in Advanced Martial Arts

While one can understand the pain of others, it's impossible to truly feel it oneself.

The family of three casually looked around, and seeing nothing else new or unusual, they bid farewell to Young Master Nan, leaving him alone there in a state of melancholy.

Descending the mountain and boarding the carriage pulled by spirit beasts, Lan Qiaoyan quietly said to her husband, "They set up such a large gambling table; didn't they estimate it beforehand? How could such a huge loophole appear?"

Miao Dingyi replied, "How could there be no estimation when they can offer different payouts? They likely had a general understanding of the situation in each continent, but their estimations were insufficient; they only expected good outcomes. Ultimately, that group is accustomed to making easy money and has the ability to solve problems when they encounter them. Under normal circumstances, they probably could have interfered with Su Yuanzong winning the championship, but they didn't expect Su Yuanzong to gain such significant momentum. Their small tricks became useless, and they didn't dare to go too far, as Sheng Shenzhou's top sect is not to be trifled with. This time, they've truly hit a snag and will certainly suffer a bit."

Lan Qiaoyan listened, shaking her head with a chuckle.

Miao Yilan remained silent, listening quietly. She noticed that her parents were no longer avoiding discussing such topics in front of her...

Day broke, and as Xiang Lan'er set off with the team again, she repeatedly looked back along the path, but still received no response from Sun Shigang's side.

That night, she had used the sandalwood flame energy to send out multiple signals.

She didn't know what was happening with Sun Shigang. Logically, such a loss of contact shouldn't occur.

She didn't know if it was just a temporary loss of contact or if something serious had happened. This made her subtly uneasy, as Sun Shigang was the central point of contact between her and the other twelve teams. If anything happened to him, she might lose contact with those teams, especially since her identity was not to be revealed to non-essential personnel.

It was only the beginning; there shouldn't be any need for conflict or fighting yet, so no accidents should have occurred.

Earlier, Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang had gone missing. She wondered if these two incidents were isolated or connected. Could Sun Shigang's group have been involved?

As agreed, the departing teams from around twenty sects spread out to search for insect crystals along the way. Bai Shuchuan kept the three remaining members of Wukang Mountain close by for easy communication...

"Has the poison not been neutralized yet?"

Shi Chun, meditating cross-legged, suddenly heard Sun Shigang's voice, not for the first time, from further inside the cave. He replied as usual, "Not that quickly. This poison needs to be neutralized slowly."

Sun Shigang complained, "I've been channeling demonic energy for almost a day, and my vital energy is greatly depleted. I really can't take it anymore; I'm already injured."

It wasn't just talk; the demonic energy indeed began to fade.

Shi Chun had no choice but to stop his cultivation, open his eyes, and stand up. He walked further into the cave, threw a piece of sandalwood gold on the ground for illumination, and seeing Sun Shigang's somewhat worried expression, immediately pulled something out of his waist pouch and shouted, "Open wide! Here's a tonic for you."

Sun Shigang was indeed exhausted. Seeing it was a tonic, he immediately opened his mouth.

Shi Chun still dared not approach him closely. He flicked his fingers from a distance, flicking several pills one by one into Sun Shigang's mouth, saying, "No rush. Take your time to recover. We'll rest a bit and then continue."

Sun Shigang, still swallowing the pills, said helplessly, "This is the first time I've heard of a poison that needs demonic energy to neutralize. How much longer will it take for your poison to be neutralized?"

Shi Chun replied, "Do you think I want this? I have no choice. I don't know exactly how much longer, but it's quite effective, so it shouldn't take too long. It's almost done. You recover well first, and we'll continue later tonight. I'll go find your..."

Sun Shigang was puzzled, "Where would they get demonic energy?" Shi Chun said, "Aren't they fellow members of the Demonic Path?"

Sun Shigang explained, "Yes, they are associates, but not every demonic cultivator practices demonic arts. Where would they get demonic energy without cultivating demonic arts? They are merely outer members of the demonic path who developed in Luoyue Valley."

So that was it. Shi Chun believed him, as he hadn't seen the demonic flames on anyone else.

Since that was the case, he said nothing more, telling Sun Shigang to quickly recover. The piece of sandalwood gold for illumination remained on the ground.

With the demonic energy fading, he no longer felt stifled in the cave. He pushed open the cave entrance slightly and crawled out.

It was deep night outside. Wu Jinliang's dug-out cave was right beside theirs, and the sound of Shi Chun crawling out startled him.

The two met outside the caves, walking a little further away to talk. Wu Jinliang asked, "Why did you come out?"

Shi Chun, feeling refreshed, said considerately, "He's been channeling demonic energy for a day; he's truly tired, so I let him rest."

Wu Jinliang asked curiously, "Is cultivating with demonic energy effective?"

At this, Shi Chun grew a little excited. "The effect is very clear. With the aid of pills, it's much faster than my progress before my cultivation stagnated. It feels like making a thousand miles in a single day."

Wu Jinliang could feel his excitement. He grinned and shook his head. "Cultivating with demonic energy... I've never heard of such an unorthodox cultivation method before. It truly lives up to its name as demonic arts."

"Has anyone been here?""Probably not. We haven't detected any movement yet."

The two chatted, even climbing the canyon to gaze at the stars and experience the wilderness wind.

When the sky was just beginning to lighten, Shi Chun re-entered the cave, instructing Sun Shigang to continue channeling demonic energy for his detoxification. Sun Shigang had no choice but to comply; he had already given in before, so any further resistance was meaningless.

Day after day passed in this manner. Sun Shigang's spirit gradually withered, and even amidst the purple flame energy, his pale face could be discerned.

During these days, Sun Shigang would ask daily, "When will your poison be completely neutralized?"

Shi Chun would always say, "Soon," and tell him to just hold on a little longer.

Sun Shigang truly persevered, hoping to quickly neutralize the poison in Shi Chun's body and free himself, as these days were truly tormenting.

And just like that, half a month passed in the blink of an eye.

That day, as Shi Chun sat quietly in the dark, a series of cracking and popping sounds suddenly erupted from his body, as if every joint was repeatedly tightening and loosening, adjusting itself.

Inside, Sun Shigang, who had been channeling demonic energy with his eyes closed, abruptly opened them. Listening to the joint movements that lasted for a while, a look of shock and suspicion gradually appeared on his face. The moment the sounds stopped, he immediately shouted in anger, "You've broken through! You're using me to cultivate!"

He was experienced; he knew immediately that it was the sound of bones and muscles readjusting during a breakthrough to a higher martial arts level. Claiming that detoxification could lead to a cultivation breakthrough was almost like trying to fool a ghost.

His face was filled with fury at being deceived. He couldn't help but be angry; heaven knew how he had suffered through these days.

Shi Chun had indeed broken through. Before, it was as if he had been locked in a small box, but then he suddenly kicked open the box and jumped out into a much larger world. His hands and feet, which had felt restricted, could now finally move freely.

His entire perception also reached another realm. However, he didn't awaken because of Sun Shigang's anger; instead, it was because he sensed a slight abnormality within his body.

His heightened perception allowed him to detect a misty, hazy purple substance within his spine, extending all the way to his head. Though he couldn't see it with inner vision, he vaguely felt it was there, and that some meridians and blood vessels had merged with it.

This intangible sensation reminded him of his first encounter with the shimmering purple nebula in the mine shaft. Back then, he also couldn't touch it with his hand, but it was later attracted by his blood.

Blood. He immediately cast a spell to mobilize his blood essence to impact it.

The instant it was struck, he felt the indistinct purple mist begin to spin like a nebula, and he sensed an anomaly. He abruptly opened his eyes, and in his right eye, the fantastical vision reappeared. This time, there was no splitting headache, nor the painful sensation of countless insects gnawing at his spine.

He saw a hazy white figure outside reaching the cave entrance. It was Wu Jinliang, who was pushing open the entrance, having been startled by Sun Shigang's angry shouts.

Shi Chun, overjoyed to have found a painless way to activate his right eye's special ability, had just calmed his magic power circulation and was about to stand up when he was suddenly struck by the familiar intense pain, making him sit back down on the ground.

What was happening? He thought for a moment and immediately cast a spell again, mobilizing his vital energy and blood as before. The moment the vital energy and blood arrived, the pain instantly vanished, like a hungry infant being fed.

He carefully sensed and discovered that the rotating, indistinct purple mist was absorbing his blood essence.

He tried stopping the blood essence supply, and the pain indeed reappeared, though it was much milder this time. Upon closer inspection, he found that the still-rotating, indistinct purple mist was still absorbing blood essence, but it was forcibly drawing it through the merged meridians and blood vessels, and this forced process was the cause of his intense pain.

Once the indistinct purple mist stopped rotating, the strange vision in his eye also vanished.

Only then did he truly understand: activating his right eye's special ability required his own blood essence supply. No wonder he felt such intense weakness after the ability appeared.

Looking at the amount of blood essence consumed, he realized he was fortunate that his demonic cultivation art had the function of strengthening the physical body and powerful blood essence recovery. An ordinary person probably wouldn't be able to handle it; the side effects would likely be much worse.

Hazy purple light and shadows still flickered before his eyes. He slowly opened them and saw Wu Jinliang. He also heard Sun Shigang still shouting loudly from the inner part of the cave.

Wu Jinliang, seeing his state, didn't dare to disturb him. He took out a piece of sandalwood gold for illumination and watched him with a worried expression. When Shi Chun awoke, he immediately asked, "Are you alright?"

He spoke while holding his breath; there was still a faint demonic aura in the air, and he dared not inhale any more of it.

Shi Chun, having lost some blood essence, shook his head. "I'm fine."

Wu Jinliang asked, "What's that jerk inside howling about? Saying you used him to break through?"

Shi Chun nodded and smiled. "I did break through!"

"Alright! Haha!" Wu Jinliang slapped his belly and laughed happily. This boss was a strong fighter, and with his cultivation level improving, he immediately felt much safer.

Shi Chun extended his hand, and Wu Jinliang readily offered a hand, pulling him up. The two then went into the inner part of the cave together.

The moment Sun Shigang saw Shi Chun, he roared furiously, "You're deceiving me! You're using me to cultivate!"

Shi Chun calmly said, "Actually, I didn't deceive you. I really was poisoned, by a strange poison. This poison caused my cultivation to stagnate for two or three years, and it requires demonic energy to neutralize. You wouldn't understand if I explained it. Let's talk about something you do understand. Don't think we don't know you're putting on an act with Xiang Lan'er. Tell us, what do you intend to do to us?"

Before his cultivation breakthrough, he didn't want the other party to become resistant, so he hadn't interrogated him. Now, he no longer had any reservations.