Chapter 56: Mysterious Yin Hand, Yin Marrow Liquid

This spell was extraordinary. As it was cast, a large amount of cold, yin spiritual energy gathered around Su Qingshan, forming a person-sized, gray-black hand that struck towards Wang Yu. It not only mobilized his internal spiritual energy but also resonated with the external spiritual energy, allowing him to gather and wield it with even greater power.

"A second-tier spell at the Minor Accomplishment stage!"

"No wonder..."

Wang Yu's heart tightened. He had no intention of directly confronting it. His Illusory Form Steps, at the Perfected stage, were not something Su Qingshan could easily see through either. Using the Profound Yin Hand, a single-target offensive spell, was indeed a suboptimal strategy for Su.

As expected, after grabbing Wang Yu's illusion and crushing it into dispersed spiritual energy, Su Qingshan became even more infuriated. With a full burst of spiritual energy, he condensed another Profound Yin Hand. It attached itself three feet outside his fist, striking left and right, destroying a large number of Wang Yu's illusions.

Seizing the opportunity, Wang Yu unleashed his Nether Spirit Chain. It shot through the air, rapidly extending and tightly coiling around both Profound Yin Hands, inch by inch. He held the end in his left hand, pulled it taut, and gave a sharp flick. Su Qingshan himself was pulled airborne. As he spun in mid-air, using the chain as an anchor, he immediately locked onto Wang Yu's true body, a smirk forming at the corner of his mouth.

"Did you think the Profound Yin Hand could only be wielded within a few dozen feet of me? You're mistaken!"

The Profound Yin Hand, bound by the chain, was tightly connected to Su Qingshan's arms, but it suddenly disconnected. The taut chain went slack. In the blink of an eye, Wang Yu was caught squarely by the Profound Yin Hand.

A chuckle escaped him. With a thought, the gray-black hand, which had completely seized him, squeezed hard. With a squelch, Wang Yu, presumed to be the true body, disintegrated.

Just then, a cold voice came from above. Su Qingshan abruptly looked up, only to see Wang Yu's left fist dramatically swell, striking directly towards his skull.

"Then did you think an illusion couldn't control the Nether Spirit Chain?"

To take a direct hit from a second-tier Armored Corpse arm with his head—calling him "stubborn" wouldn't even begin to describe it. When the dust settled, only Wang Yu remained standing. Where Su Qingshan fell, only half a body remained. His upper body had been completely smashed into his abdomen, crushed into his pelvis, a truly gruesome sight!

He was becoming increasingly proficient in using his left arm. The assistance it provided, especially its extraordinary offensive capabilities, greatly pleased him. Any spell that reached the Perfected stage possessed power comparable to, if not exceeding, that of its creator. Horizontal transformations and certain modifications were all possible. Ice Sword Art, Ice Shield Art, Ice Coffin Charm, and so on—all were possible. His Illusory Form Steps naturally were too.

After the battle, his spiritual energy remained abundant, thanks to the Qi Recovery Pills, but Wang Yu's mental energy was significantly depleted. After all, he had to concentrate intensely, constantly looking for various combat opportunities. He realized he possessed exceptional talent in combat spells. He could effortlessly deploy various perfected spells, using them with flexible adaptation and finding them immensely suitable.

Su Qingshan's fame was likely based entirely on his Profound Yin Hand spell. Now, it was time to collect the spoils of war. There were four storage bags and two and a half corpses. One was a mangled mess, unspeakable, and another was in three pieces, with only the lower body remaining. None were of much value.

Using his spiritual sense to search the storage bags, excluding miscellaneous items like bottles and jars, he found over five thousand spiritual stones, most of which belonged to Su Qingshan. Demonic cultivators were generally poor; even inner disciples wouldn't keep too many spiritual stones, as most were exchanged for cultivation resources. Among the items were four high-grade magical artifacts, three mid-grade magical artifacts, some exquisitely styled furniture and decorations... and even some fabrics made from spirit silkworm silk.

Wang Yu couldn't help but show a strange expression, easily connecting these items to the Xu manor. He realized Su Qingshan must have raided their home.

After a brief moment of reflection, Wang Yu took out one of the high-grade magical artifacts: an ice-blue long sword. This was Su Qingshan's favored artifact. Like Wang Yu, Su Qingshan had joined the Cold Blood Peak. Since Su Qingshan also cultivated ice-attribute techniques, this artifact, named the Ice Pattern Sword, had an effect similar to the Ice Sword Art Unification, making it perfectly suited for him. The other artifacts could be sold off later. Qi Condensation cultivators had limited spiritual sense and could generally only control one magical artifact at a time. The Nether Spirit Chain, the Bronze Bell, and now the Ice Pattern Sword were more than sufficient. He couldn't handle any more.

These two struggles since arriving at Profound Bone Mountain had greatly enriched Wang Yu's personal wealth. "Killing and arson bring forth a golden belt"—indeed, this was the glorious path of demonic cultivators!

He continued to rummage through the storage bags, examining items one by one from the miscellaneous pile. Wang Yu genuinely found another valuable item, again from Su Qingshan's storage bag. One was a black jade bottle, emitting a faint cold, yin aura. After examining it, Wang Yu's face lit up with joy.

"Second-tier spiritual material: Yin Marrow Liquid."

This was one of the main ingredients for refining the Cold Flood Dragon Pill. This half-bottle was enough for three portions, truly a pleasant surprise.

After carefully putting it away, Wang Yu looked at another item: several scattered pieces of silk brocade. They surprisingly contained the cultivation method for the Profound Yin Hand! While puzzled, Wang Yu quickly understood after a brief look. This spell was not a technique of the Reverse Spirit Blood Sect, but a second-tier high-grade spell from Yellow Spring Temple, one of the five sects in the Crimson Kite Demonic Domain. This spell was extraordinary, being a subordinate technique to Yellow Spring Temple's inherited Yellow Spring Seal. Cultivating it with the aid of Yin Marrow Liquid would yield twice the results with half the effort, ensuring mastery. This missing half-bottle must have been used by Su Qingshan!

"But how did he get a core inheritance from Yellow Spring Temple? Su Qingshan... the subordinate recruited by True Disciple Su during the last Outer Sect Grand Competition... both named Su. Could there be some connection?" The more he thought about it, the more Wang Yu felt something was amiss.

In his view, Su Qingshan's combat prowess was ordinary. Without the Profound Yin Hand, for a sixth-level Qi Condensation cultivator to defeat an eighth-level one would be pure nonsense. Yet, Yellow Spring Temple's renowned spell was famous throughout the Crimson Kite Demonic Domain. There was no reason why a sect steward wouldn't recognize it. Either there was a hidden conspiracy, or Su Qingshan had encountered a fortuitous opportunity after the Outer Sect Grand Competition. As for him being a spy from another sect, that possibility was unlikely. After all, core inheritances were usually only taught to true disciples of each sect. To generously bestow one upon a spy would be too extravagant, and it would be immediately exposed during a fight.

What a headache! After killing Xu Jiaojiao, Wang Yu had already offended Steward Xu. If the steward hadn't been imprisoned by the Law Enforcement Hall, he would surely have sought revenge. Proactively eliminating Su Qingshan was also an attempt to distance himself, fearing Su would tip off Steward Xu. Now, it seemed he had invited even greater trouble. How could he not have a headache?!

However, after inspecting his storage bag and discovering numerous luxurious and exquisite small items and furniture, he deduced that Su Qingshan had ransacked the Xu manor while it was vacant. This meant he no longer had to worry about Su Qingshan relaying information. In this way, even if Steward Xu resolved his own troubles, it would be difficult for him to come after Wang Yu.

At this moment, he was unaware that when Su Qingshan fled to avoid disaster, he had deliberately left a letter detailing Wang Yu's involvement, intending for Wang Yu to bear the brunt of the trouble.