Cultivation through Skin Making

A moment later...

Candle Land, Secret Realm.

Hua Linglong sat cross-legged, a tiny golden light akin to a firefly fell into her abdomen, its glow radiant, making Hua Linglong's body resemble a human skin lampshade.

The glow continued upwards, slowly spreading towards the area of the heart, but after just an inch, it completely lost its golden light, at least from the outside, Song Yan could no longer see it.

This indicated that the enigmatic relic left by the Insect Cultivator had been successfully digested by Hua Linglong.

It was at this moment that Song Yan noticed, almost miraculously, that the Night Candle Soul Worms which had been relentlessly attacking him suddenly ceased.

Above the sky, the swarm that seemed like tidewater also began retreating slowly, clearly Hua Linglong had enormous control over this place.

As the insect tide receded, the moonlight finally beamed down, spilling over the two of them.

Song Yan glanced at Hua Linglong, the latter was still with eyes closed, appearing to be in the midst of digesting.

Thus, he grasped the Profound Crystal, leaping up and landing on a nearby hilltop where he sat cross-legged, swiftly absorbing Profound Qi to replenish his strength...

...

...

"Exit, exit..."

"Is it... an illusion?"

In the distance, a half-dead loose cultivator, along with two bloodless martial artists were sprawled on the muddy ground.

Around the mud scattered numerous fragments of Profound Artifacts, and before the mud, a ring of transparent ripples suddenly appeared.

Beyond the ripples, lay a wilderness.

They paused for a moment, recalling that wilderness to be outside Chao Li County.

"Exit..."

The loose cultivator gasped, raised a hand, struck down, embedded his fingers into the mud, and started dragging his heavy body forward slowly.

Even though they were only grazed by the edges of the insect tide, even though they had hidden in a cave, even though they had exhausted all their trump cards, only three remained...

The others lay strangely on the ground, faces rigid and waxy white, yet without a single wound.

The loose cultivator even had no idea how they died.

Now having seen the exit, regardless of whether it was an illusion, he must try.

And just as he reached the exit, a chill struck his back, followed by piercing pain.

He turned his head, only to see a vicious face staring at him.

Facing his gaze, the owner of the face seemed fearful.

Yet the fear quickly turned into hysterical fury.

"Die, die, die, die!!"

Du Protector grabbed fragments of the shattered Profound Artifact Sword, crying and roaring as he relentlessly stabbed into the loose cultivator's body.

Under normal circumstances, Du Protector wouldn't stand a chance against the loose cultivator, yet now... with each stab, the loose cultivator gradually lost consciousness.

Du Protector continued stabbing until the spine and skull were fully pierced through, then he dropped the sword, gasping for breath, and fiercely swallowed, wiping the mud, tears, and snot off his face with his sleeve, snatched a nearby pill bottle from the ground, and ran towards the exit.

If it weren't for these loose cultivators, his brothers wouldn't have died.

Especially Brother Li!!

Brother Li, you died so miserably, Old Du... Old Du owes you his life!

Stumbling to the door, Du Protector lunged forward, slamming into the rippling circle, landing onto a patch of grass.

Though still mud, it was entirely different from that bizarre secret realm.

Du Protector struggled to flip over, facing the sky, yet after waiting awhile, no other surviving brother emerged, glancing again, the door to the secret realm had vanished.

Du Protector remained silent for a long time, tightly gripping the pill bottle, recalling the days of eating and drinking freely together, tears uncontrollably trickled down his cheeks.

...

...

The morning light dispelled Candle Land's chill, Soul Worms retreated back into the shadows.

The bright morning breeze blew through the valley, refreshing through the forest.

Song Yan glanced down at Hua Linglong.

The latter was still not awake, seemingly still digesting the golden light she referred to as "thought."

He furrowed his brows, but feeling his own depletion replenished, he stood upright, internally asking, "Have you ever seen such a situation?"

Fox Granny replied, "I've never seen it, but if speaking of thought, it likely pertains to a Purple Mansion Realm powerhouse."

"Purple Mansion Realm..."

"Profound Qi circulates through the body, transforming flesh to reach human limits, then establishes a Dantian, this is Refining Profound.

Using the power of external objects, blood converges at the heart, elevating life levels, this is Crimson Palace.

And Purple Mansion extends beyond Crimson Palace Realm, achieving profound life levels enables spirit upliftment, it is the blossoming of a Divine Soul seed in the new flesh soil.

However... if life levels are even slightly weak, Purple Mansion Realm remains unattainable.

The Nanwu Sword Sect, and even many cultivators within the Puppet Sect, due to the Crimson Palace Pill formula, can only seek stability by absorbing the blood of Refining Profound Level demon beasts.

Thus, even if the Nine Palaces are complete, they are merely false Nine Palaces... because Crimson Palace Realm is the utmost they can reach."

Song Yan glanced at Hua Linglong, suddenly asking, "Having absorbed someone else's thought, especially possibly a thought of a Purple Mansion Realm powerhouse, is she still herself?"

Fox Granny answered, "I believe it's much like a person undergoing significant change, their nature becomes more adaptable.

"But even if that were the case, it would only be temporary; if her own will and thoughts grow stronger in the future, they will change again. How could one say she is not herself?"

Song Yan had a deep understanding of this point.

Human thoughts can change in an instant, in one thought a friend, the next an enemy.

Master Shi taught him a valuable lesson.

He would not gamble on human nature.

At this moment, he certainly wouldn't make a move against Hua Linglong, but to truly trust her wholeheartedly was difficult... just as Hua Linglong herself mentioned before, "On our first meeting, I was Lady Ling."

Thus, Song Yan glanced once more at Lady Ling, then, without a word, stood up and shot into the depths of the Secret Realm.

He intended to find the Blood Pool himself, take the Essence Blood, and leave swiftly.

This search took up an entire day, yet the Secret Realm was eerily vast; if the Blood Pool was hidden underground somewhere, Song Yan simply couldn't find it.

As dusk began to settle, Song Yan grew hesitant.

Should he remain in the Secret Realm, or temporarily leave?

Just then, he heard undisguised movements behind him. With a slight tilt of his head, he spotted a figure in a Profound Robe with a Ghost Face mask floating closer and stopping mid-air. The eyes hidden behind that Ghost Face mask appeared somewhat stiff and wooden.

"Brother Song, I will keep my promise to you, please follow me."

Lady Ling's demeanor changed, as did her voice, becoming colder.

Song Yan's expression slightly tensed, as he secretly commanded ten Puppets.

Now, although he was in the Early Stage Crimson Palace, he had only secured one of the Nine Palaces Blood.

While the Changwang Tiger Blood was indeed supreme in the Divine Soul World, its performance elsewhere was mediocre; the abilities it provided were merely "strong Divine Soul defense power" and "control over the Changwang spirits." As it stood, these offered little to enhance Song Yan's "Magic system."

Therefore, Song Yan's strongest means of attack remains the "Hundred Forms Demon Body," but... with the addition of Granny Fox's Shadow Puppet, the power provided by the "Hundred Forms Demon Body" was also on the rise.

After ensuring these preparations, Song Yan then followed the fleeting Lady Ling ahead.

The two of them flitted through the dim mountains.

Mountain shadows loomed impressively, black clouds shrouding the moon...

In the darkness, large patches of squirming began to emerge.

Lady Ling said, "Brother Song, I have gained a lot of additional memories, though still chaotic, I have organized some useful to you."

Song Yan replied, "Please proceed."

Lady Ling said, "Brother Song must be puzzled about the origins of these Secret Realms.

From my memories, I vaguely understand that these Secret Realms were opened by ancient cultivators for unknown purposes.

Later, among the cultivators, there were Purple Mansion powerhouses who utilized these Secret Realms to foster Demon Beasts and Demon Insects.

The Purple Mansion Realm is a level above the Crimson Palace Realm.

Those Purple Mansion powerhouses would modify the Secret Realm's environment, then use a Secret Technique to integrate their Divine Souls into the initial Demon Beasts and Demon Insects, ensuring the Demon Beasts and Demon Insects within these Secret Realms remained under their control, even after thousands of years.

"Furthermore, they discovered that these Secret Realms were extraordinarily sensitive to Spirit, so they refined them further, turning the Secret Realm into a weapon. They could open and close the Secret Realm at will with a thought, and even carry it with them.

During confrontations, they could open the Secret Realm, letting Demon Insects and Demon Beasts out to kill, or deceive enemies into the Secret Realm.

In short... the Secret Realm is an extraordinary weapon of attack and defense for Purple Mansion level cultivators."

"The golden thought I absorbed was the remaining thought of an Insect Cultivator Purple Mansion powerhouse.

I derived this thought from the Profound Root of the Demon Swamp Secret Realm, using it as a foundation for cultivation, enabling me to absorb the legacy left by Granny Pearl.

This Candle Land Secret Realm was previously controlled by that powerhouse.

Granny Pearl brought me here because the emergence of this Secret Realm caught her attention. She meant to acquire this Secret Realm and incidentally brought some cultivators here for the Demon Insects to feed on.

But she truly didn't expect you to be here."

Song Yan processed this information.

To be frank, he couldn't help but develop a yearning towards the Secret Realm.

However, if he were to absorb someone else's thoughts to control the Secret Realm, that was impossible.

"Lady Ling, do you know what she plans to do with me at the Mountain and Sea Demon Country?"

Lady Ling said, "This thought does not contain that information, but having stayed with her for a long time, I know a little.

It seems you took something from Granny Fox, and now, it's known almost by every cultivator out there... Granny Pearl has me under duress, partly looking for you.

But as to what she wants to take you to the Mountain and Sea Demon Country for, I'm not really sure."

Although Lady Ling wore a Ghost Face mask, and her expression was unseen, she seemed to be in contemplation, recalling. After a long while, she suddenly said, "Mountain and Sea Demon Country, Pingfeng Mountain, Dual-Headed Vilan Worm clan.

Granny Pearl... appears to be connected with that clan."

Dual-Headed Vilan Worm?

Song Yan had already regarded Granny Fox as the substitute for his past life's "Du Niang," directly asking in his mind, "What is this?"

Granny Fox remained silent for a moment.

Song Yan could feel its fear.

After a long while, Granny Fox said in a trembling voice, "This matter, it's gotten severe..."

"But why is this happening?"

"Master, many things must have happened in the Mountain and Sea Demon Country that I am unaware of."

"The full name of the Dual-Headed Vilan Worm is... Dual-Headed Vilan Man-Eating Proud Worm."

"Proud Worm is the destination of all demon bees, with the Dual-Headed ones as elites among them. The infusion of Vilan Blood into their clan is especially mysterious, I don't even know what that is..."

"The Dual-Headed Vilan Man-Eating Proud Worm is a race at the top of the Mountain and Sea Demon Country, far from us of the Multi-tailed Fox Race, with hardly any interactions. Why would they meddle in our affairs..."